Psalm 73:10

Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) Therefore.—The Prayer Book version has undoubtedly caught the meaning here. It plainly describes the popularity gained (the surest way) by the self-applause described in the preceding verse. This version depends on the Hebrew margin, Therefore do the people turn hither (i.e., to them), and full waters (i.e., a cup full of adulation and flattery) are sucked out by them.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 73:10. Therefore his people return hither — “It seems impossible to ascertain,” says Dr. Horne, “with any degree of precision, the meaning of this verse, or to whom it relates. Some think it intends those people who resort to the company of the wicked, because they find their temporal advantage by it; while others are of opinion that the people of God are meant, who, by continually revolving in their thoughts the subject here treated of, namely, the prosperity of the wicked, are sore grieved, and enforced to shed tears in abundance.” Certainly a variety of discordant interpretations have been given of the verse. But a literal translation, which the following is, seems, in some degree at least, to determine its meaning. Therefore — Hebrew, לכן, lachen, on this account, his people shall return thither, and waters of fullness shall be wrung out to them — As if he had said, Because of the prosperity of the wicked, and the afflicted state of the righteous, his people, that is, the people of God, will be under a strong temptation to return; and many will actually return to the company of the ungodly, which they had forsaken, in order to share their prosperity: but in consequence thereof, waters of a full cup shall be wrung out to them, they shall bring upon themselves many chastisements and troubles, and shall be oppressed with grief and sorrow for their sin and folly. Waters, in Scripture, frequently signify afflictions, although, it must be acknowledged, they also often signify mercies and comforts; but the former, and not the latter sense of the metaphor, seems to be intended here: for when did, or do, the people of God receive mercies and comforts, or blessings of any kind, by returning to the sins and follies which they had forsaken, or to the society of the ungodly, from which they had withdrawn themselves? Do they not uniformly meet with chastisement and trouble? The clause, “waters of a full cup,” &c., may probably refer to the cups of liquor, mingled with poison, which were, in those days, given to criminals. The verse, it must be observed, is in the future tense, and it seems most natural, as Mr. Scott has remarked, to interpret it as expressive of the psalmist’s apprehension, that the prosperity of daring sinners would eventually prove a strong temptation, and a great source of sorrow to believers.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

73:1-14 The psalmist was strongly tempted to envy the prosperity of the wicked; a common temptation, which has tried the graces of many saints. But he lays down the great principle by which he resolved to abide. It is the goodness of God. This is a truth which cannot be shaken. Good thoughts of God will fortify against Satan's temptations. The faith even of strong believers may be sorely shaken, and ready to fail. There are storms that will try the firmest anchors. Foolish and wicked people have sometimes a great share of outward prosperity. They seem to have the least share of the troubles of this life; and they seem to have the greatest share of its comforts. They live without the fear of God, yet they prosper, and get on in the world. Wicked men often spend their lives without much sickness, and end them without great pain; while many godly persons scarcely know what health is, and die with great sufferings. Often the wicked are not frightened, either by the remembrance of their sins, or the prospect of their misery, but they die without terror. We cannot judge men's state beyond death, by what passes at their death. He looked abroad, and saw many of God's people greatly at a loss. Because the wicked are so very daring, therefore his people return hither; they know not what to say to it, and the rather, because they drink deep of the bitter cup of affliction. He spoke feelingly when he spoke of his own troubles; there is no disputing against sense, except by faith. From all this arose a strong temptation to cast off religion. But let us learn that the true course of sanctification consists in cleansing a man from all pollution both of soul and body. The heart is cleansed by the blood of Christ laid hold upon by faith; and by the begun works of the Lord's Spirit, manifested in the hearty resolution, purpose, and study of holiness, and a blameless course of life and actions, the hands are cleansed. It is not in vain to serve God and keep his ordinances.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Therefore his people - Those that truly love God; the pious in the earth.

Return hither - Return to this subject. In their musings - their meditations on divine things - they come back to this inquiry. The subject occupies their minds, and they recur to it as a subject which perplexes them; as a thing that is incomprehensible. They think it over again and again, and are more and more perplexed and embarrassed. The difficulties which these facts suggest about God and his government are such that they cannot solve them.

And waters of a full cup are wrung out to them - literally, "waters of fullness;" or, full waters. The Chaldee renders this, "Many tears flow from them." The Septuagint, and the Latin Vulgate, "And full days shall be found by them." The word rendered "are wrung out" - from מצה mâtsâh - means properly to "suck;" then, to suck out; to drink greedily. See Isaiah 51:17. It is applied to one who drinks greedily of an intoxicating cup; and then, to one who drinks a cup of poison to the dregs. Psalm 75:8. The meaning here is, that the facts in the case, and the questions which arose in regard to those facts, and which so perplexed them, were like a bitter cup; a cup of poison, or an intoxicating cup which overpowered their faculties - and that they, in their perplexities, "exhausted" the cup. They drank it all, even to the dregs. They did not merely taste it; but they drank it. It was a subject full of perplexity; a subject that wholly overpowered all their faculties, and "exhausted" all their powers.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-12. Hence God's people are confounded, turned hither (or back) and thither, perplexed with doubts of God's knowledge and care, and filled with sorrow.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

His people; either,

1. The people of those wicked blasphemers; all their children, and servants, and friends, encouraged by their example. Or rather,

2. The people of God, who is oft understood under the pronoun relative he or his, though he be not expressed, as Psalm 105:19 Isaiah 30:23. See the like Psalm 87:1 Song of Solomon 1:2. But then as God’s people are of two sorts, some that are so really and sincerely, and others that are so only in profession and show, in which sense the whole body of the Israelitish nation, yea, even the wicked among them, are called his

people, as Psalm 81:11 Isaiah 1:3 Jeremiah 2:11, &c.; so this may be understood, either,

1. Of those true Israelites, Psalm 73:1. Even the godly were startled and stumbled at this, as David was, Psalm 37, and Jeremiah, Jeremiah 12 But although they might have some murmuring thoughts about this matter, it seems not probable that they would either give way to such thoughts, or break forth into such expressions, as are here ascribed to them, Psalm 73:11; nor are such things to be imputed to them without necessity; nor did either David or Jeremiah in their conflicts utter any thing of this nature. Or rather,

2. Of the carnal, hypocritical Israelites, who perceiving the impunity and prosperity of these ungodly wretches, were easily drawn to the approbation and imitation of their courses. And this may seem most suitable to the context; for the description of the condition, and carriage, and words of these ungodly men, which begins Psalm 73:4, seems to be continued to Psalm 73:13; then follows the psalmist’s reflection and consideration upon the whole matter, from Psalm 73:13 to the end.

Return hither, or, turn hither, i.e. to this wicked company, or to their course.

Waters of a full cup are wrung out to them: waters, in Scripture, do ofttimes signify afflictions, and as oft comforts and mercies. So the sense may be, either,

1. And whilst the wicked prosper, God doth wring out waters out of the cup of tribulation, and causeth his holy ones to drink them up: compare Psalm 75:8 80:5 Isaiah 51:17 Jeremiah 25:15, &c. Or rather,

2. And those hypocritical Israelites find themselves gainers by their apostacy, and they partake of the same prosperity with their leaders, and God seems to give them a full cup of consolation, and to pour forth his mercies upon them in such abundance, as if he would wring or squeeze out all his blessings out of his stores to bestow upon them. And meeting with such success to their wickedness, it is not strange if they put that question, Psalm 73:11.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Therefore his people return hither,.... Either the true people of God, and so the Targum, the people of the Lord, and whom the psalmist owned for his people; for the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, read "my people"; who seeing the prosperity of the wicked, and feeling their own afflictions, return to the same way of thinking, and fall by the same snare and temptation as the psalmist did; or such who were only the people of God by profession, but hypocrites, who observing the trouble that attends a religious life, and the prosperity of wicked men, return from the good ways of God they have outwardly walked in for some time, to the conversation of these men, and join themselves to them: or else, "his" being put for "their", the sense is, the people of these wicked men, of everyone of them, return unto them, and flock about them, and caress and flatter them, because of their prosperous circumstances, and join with them in their evil practices of oppression and slander; which sense seems best to agree with what goes before and follows after:

and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them; meaning either to the people of God, and to be understood either of the abundance of their tears, on account of their afflictions inward and outward; see Psalm 6:6, so the Targum,

"and many tears flow unto them;''

or of their afflictions themselves, which are oftentimes compared to waters in Scripture; see Psalm 42:7, which are given them in measure: it is a cup of them that is put into their hands, and in full measure; they have a full cup of them; many are their tribulations, through which they enter the kingdom, and they are all of God; it is he that wrings them out to them with his fatherly hand: or else, taking the people to mean the followers and companions of the wicked, the words are to be understood of the plenty of good things which such men enjoy in this life, their cup runs over; and indeed these seem to be the persons who are introduced speaking the following words.

Geneva Study Bible

Therefore his {e} people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.

(e) Not only the reprobate, but also the people of God often fall back seeing the prosperous estate of the wicked, and are overwhelmed with sorrows, thinking that God does not correctly consider the estate of the godly.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. A difficult verse. The general sense appears to be that attracted by the prosperity and pretensions of the wicked a crowd of imitators turn to follow them, and in their company drink to the dregs the cup of sinful pleasure. The Psalmist’s temptation is intensified as he contemplates the popularity of the wicked. Cp. Psalm 49:13. The details however are obscure. Therefore, because they are deluded by the extravagant pretensions of the wicked. The pronoun his is commonly explained to refer to the wicked regarded as a whole, or to some conspicuous leader among them. The context hardly allows of its reference to God. But the LXX and Syr. may preserve the true reading ‘my people,’ the Psalmist speaking with sorrow of his deluded countrymen. Return should rather be turn; hither, to the wicked and their pernicious ways.

The reading of the Kthîbh given in R.V. marg., he will bring back his people hither, finds no support from the Ancient Versions, and admits of no satisfactory explanation. Waters of fulness are drained by them is a metaphor for the enjoyment of pleasure; or possibly for imbibing pernicious principles. Cp. Job 15:16; and the saying of Jose ben Joezer, “Let thy house be a meeting house for the wise … and drink their words with thirstiness.” Pirqe Aboth, i. 4, cp. 12.

10, 11. The mass of men are carried away by their evil example.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - Therefore his people return hither; rather, therefore he turns his people hitherward; i.e. by his great pretensions and his audacity, he (the wicked man) turns his followers to his own courses, and induces them to act as he acts. And waters of a full cup are wrung out to them; rather, and waters in abundance are drained by them. They "drink iniquity like water" (Job 15:16), "draining" the cup which is handed to them. Psalm 73:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The reading עונמו, ἡ ἀδικία αὐτῶν (lxx (cf. in Zechariah 5:6 the עינם, which is rendered by the lxx in exactly the same way), in favour of which Hitzig, Bצttcher, and Olshausen decide, "their iniquity presses forth out of a fat heart, out of a fat inward part," is favoured by Psalm 17:10, where חלב obtains just this signification by combination with סגר, which it would obtain here as being the place whence sin issues; cf. ἐξέρχεσθαι ἐκ τῆς καρδίας, Matthew 15:18.; and the parallelism decides its superiority. Nevertheless the traditional reading also gives a suitable sense; not (since the fat tends to make the eyes appear to be deeper in) "their eyes come forward prae adipe," but, "they stare forth ex adipe, out of the fat of their bloated visage," מחלב being equivalent to מחלב פּניהם, Job 15:27. This is a feature of the character faithfully drawn after nature. Further, just as in general τὸ περίσσευμα τῆς καρδίας wells over in the gestures and language (Matthew 12:34), so is it also with their "views or images of the heart" (from שׂכה, like שׂכוי, the cock with its gift of divination as speculator): the illusions of their unbounded self-confidence come forth outwardly, they overflow after the manner of a river,

(Note: On the other hand, Redslob (Deutsch. Morgenlהnd. Zeitschr. 1860, S. 675) interprets it thus: they run over the fencings of the heart, from שׂכה in the signification to put or stick through, to stick into (infigere), by comparing קירות לבּי, Jeremiah 4:19, and ἕρκος ὀδόντων. He regards משׂכית sdrag and mosaic as one word, just as the Italian ricamare (to stitch) and רקם is one word. Certainly the root זך, Arab. zk, ḏk, has the primary notion of piercing (cf. זכר), and also the notion of purity, which it obtains, proceeds from the idea of the brilliance which pierces into the eye; but the primary notion of שׂכה is that of cutting through (whence שׂכּין, like מחלף, a knife, from חלף, Judges 5:26).)

viz., as Psalm 73:8 says, in words that are proud beyond measure (Jeremiah 5:28). Luther: "they destroy everything" (synon. they make it as or into rottenness, from מקק). But חמיק is here equivalent to the Aramaic מיּק (μωκᾶσθαι): they mock and openly speak ברע (with ā in connection with Munach transformed from Dech), with evil disposition (cf. Exodus 32:12), oppression; i.e., they openly express their resolve which aims at oppression. Their fellow-man is the sport of their caprice; they speak or dictate ממּרום, down from an eminence, upon which they imagine themselves to be raised high above others. Even in the heavens above do they set (שׁתּוּ as in Psalm 49:15 instead of שׁתוּ, - there, in accordance with tradition, Milel; here at the commencement of the verse Milra) their mouth; even these do not remain untouched by their scandalous language (cf. Jde 1:16); the Most High and Holy One, too, is blasphemed by them, and their tongue runs officiously and imperiously through the earth below, everywhere disparaging that which exists and giving new laws. תּהלך, as in Exodus 9:23, a Kal sounding much like Hithpa., in the signification grassari. In Psalm 73:10 the Chethb ישׁיב (therefore he, this class of man, turns a people subject to him hither, i.e., to himself) is to be rejected, because הלם is not appropriate to it. עמּו is the subject, and the suffix refers not to God (Stier), whose name has not been previously mentioned, but to the kind of men hitherto described: what is meant is the people which, in order that it may turn itself hither (שׁוּב, not: to turn back, but to turn one's self towards, as e.g., in Jeremiah 15:19)

(Note: In general שׁוּב does not necessarily signify to turn back, but, like the Arabic ‛âda, Persic gashten, to enter into a new (active or passive) state.))

becomes his, i.e., this class's people (cf. for this sense of the suffix as describing the issue or event, Psalm 18:24; Psalm 49:6; Psalm 65:12). They gain adherents (Psalm 49:14) from those who leave the fear of God and turn to them; and מי מלא, water of fulness, i.e., of full measure (cf. Psalm 74:15, streams of duration equals that do not dry up), which is here an emblem of their corrupt principles (cf. Job 15:16), is quaffed or sucked in (מצה, root מץ, whence first of all מצץ, Arab. mṣṣ, to suck) by these befooled ones (למו, αὐτοῖς equals ὑπ ̓ αὐτῶν). This is what is meant to be further said, and not that this band of servile followers is in fulness absorbed by them (Sachs). Around the proud free-thinkers there gathers a rabble submissive to them, which eagerly drinks in everything that proceeds from them as though it were the true water of life. Even in David's time (Psalm 10:4; Psalm 14:1; Psalm 36:2) there were already such stout spirits (Isaiah 46:12) with a servûm imitatorum pecus. A still far more favourable soil for these לצים was the worldly age of Solomon.