Psalm 78:9

The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) Armed, and carrying bows.—Following Jeremiah 4:29, and from analogy with Jeremiah 44:9 (“handle and bend the bow”) we get as literal rendering of the Hebrew here, drawing and shooting with the bow. LXX. and Vulgate, “bending and shooting with the bow.” But a close comparison of this verse with Psalm 78:57 of this psalm, and with Hosea 7:16, has suggested to a recent commentator a much more satisfactory explanation, The sons of Ephraim (are like men) drawing slack bowstrings which turn back in the day of battle. “Both the disappointment on the day of battle and the cause of the disappointment, which are mentioned in the text, will be appreciated by the English reader who remembers that the result of the battle of Creçy was determined at the outset by a shower of rain which relaxed the strings of our enemy’s bows” (Burgess, Notes on the Hebrew Psalms.)[15]

[15] This translation assumes that the primitive meaning of the verb rāmah is was slack. Certainly the root idea of the word (comp. the cognate rāphah and the meaning of the derivation in Proverbs 10:4; Proverbs 12:24) seems to have been relaxation. That turned back, both here and in Psalm 78:57, refers to the recoil of a bow, seems indubitable.

By taking this sense of a comparison of the general character of Ephraim to a bow with a relaxed string that fails at the moment it is wanted (a figure made more expressive by the fact that archery was a practice in which Ephraim excelled), we are freed from the necessity of conjecturing a particular incident to account for this verse, which seems to break the sequence of thought. The whole historical retrospect is intended to lead up to the rejection of the northern kingdom (represented by Ephraim), but the poet is unable to keep back his climax, and thrusts it in here almost parenthetically.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 78:9. The children of Ephraim, being armed, turned back in the day of battle — “This defeat of the Ephraimites,” says Dr. Hammond, from Kimchi, “was in the desert: and although the story be not mentioned in the books of Moses, yet it is written in the Chronicles, (see 1 Chronicles 7:21-22,) where, from the circumstances of Ephraim’s mourning, it appears it happened before the Israelites entered into Canaan; and the manner of the relation shows it was a considerable slaughter.” Bishop Patrick, however, supposes it refers to the Ephraimites refusing, with the other tribes, (which they probably discouraged,) to go up and engage the Canaanites, when commanded of God, as is recorded Deuteronomy 1:26. But the most probable opinion seems to be, that it refers to that shameful defeat which the Philistines gave the Israelites in Eli’s time, when they took the ark, as is related 1 Samuel 4:10-11. Shiloh, which was then made desolate, was in the tribe of Ephraim, and perhaps the Ephraimites on that occasion led on the battle, but, by giving away afterward, caused a general defeat. “That Ephraim is here put for all Israel,” says Poole, “seems evident from the following verses, wherein the sins upon which this overthrow is charged are manifestly the sins of all the children of Israel, and they who are here called Ephraim are called Jacob and Israel, Psalm 78:21. And the psalmist, having related this amazing providence and judgment of God upon his own people, falls into a large discourse on the causes of it, to wit, the great, and manifold, and continual sins of that and the former generations; which having prosecuted from hence to Psalm 78:60, he there returns to this history, and relates the sad consequences of that disaster, namely, the captivity of the ark, and God’s forsaking of Shiloh and Ephraim, and removing thence to the tribe of Judah and mount Zion.” Well might that event be fresh in men’s minds in David’s time, which was only about forty years after it; for the ark, which, in that memorable battle, was seized by the Philistines, though it was quickly brought out of captivity, was never brought out of obscurity, till David fetched it from Kirjath-jearim.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

78:9-39. Sin dispirits men, and takes away the heart. Forgetfulness of God's works is the cause of disobedience to his laws. This narrative relates a struggle between God's goodness and man's badness. The Lord hears all our murmurings and distrusts, and is much displeased. Those that will not believe the power of God's mercy, shall feel the fire of his indignation. Those cannot be said to trust in God's salvation as their happiness at last, who can not trust his providence in the way to it. To all that by faith and prayer, ask, seek, and knock, these doors of heaven shall at any time be opened; and our distrust of God is a great aggravation of our sins. He expressed his resentment of their provocation; not in denying what they sinfully lusted after, but in granting it to them. Lust is contented with nothing. Those that indulge their lust, will never be estranged from it. Those hearts are hard indeed, that will neither be melted by the mercies of the Lord, nor broken by his judgments. Those that sin still, must expect to be in trouble still. And the reason why we live with so little comfort, and to so little purpose, is, because we do not live by faith. Under these rebukes they professed repentance, but they were not sincere, for they were not constant. In Israel's history we have a picture of our own hearts and lives. God's patience, and warnings, and mercies, imbolden them to harden their hearts against his word. And the history of kingdoms is much the same. Judgments and mercies have been little attended to, until the measure of their sins has been full. And higher advantages have not kept churches from declining from the commandments of God. Even true believers recollect, that for many a year they abused the kindness of Providence. When they come to heaven, how will they admire the Lord's patience and mercy in bringing them to his kingdom!

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The children of Ephraim - The sons of Ephraim; that is, the descendants of Ephraim; the tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim was one of the "largest" of the tribes of Israel, and was the "chief" tribe in the rebellion, and hence, the term is often used to denote the "ten" tribes, or the kingdom of Israel, in contradistinction from that of Judah. See Isaiah 7:2, Isaiah 7:5,Isaiah 7:8-9, Isaiah 7:17; Isaiah 11:13; Isaiah 28:1. The word is evidently used in this sense here, not as denoting that one tribe only, but that tribe as the head of the revolted kingdom; or, in other words, the name is used as representing the kingdom of that name after the revolt. See 1 Kings 12. This verse evidently contains the gist or the main idea of the psalm - to wit, that Ephraim, or the ten tribes, had turned away from the worship of the true God, and that, in consequence of that apostasy, the government had been transferred to another tribe - the tribe of Judah. See Psalm 78:67-68.

Being armed - The idea in this phrase is, that they had abundant means for maintaining their independence in connection with the other tribes, or as a part of the nation, but that they refused to cooperate with their brethren.

And carrying bows - Margin, "throwing forth." Literally, "lifting up." The idea is, that they were armed with bows; or, that they were fully armed.

Turned back in the day of battle - That is, they did not stand by their brethren, or assist them in defending their country. There is probably no reference here to any particular battle, but the idea is, that in the wars of the nation - in those wars which were waged for national purposes - they refused to join with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin in defense of the lawful government.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9-11. The privileges of the first-born which belonged to Joseph (1Ch 5:1, 2) were assigned to Ephraim by Jacob (Ge 48:1). The supremacy of the tribe thus intimated was recognized by its position (in the marching of the nation to Canaan) next to the ark (Nu 2:18-24), by the selection of the first permanent locality for the ark within its borders at Shiloh, and by the extensive and fertile province given for its possession. Traces of this prominence remained after the schism under Rehoboam, in the use, by later writers, of Ephraim for Israel (compare Ho 5:3-14; 11:3-12). Though a strong, well-armed tribe, and, from an early period, emulous and haughty (compare Jos 17:14; Jud 8:1-3; 2Sa 19:41), it appears, in this place, that it had rather led the rest in cowardice than courage; and had incurred God's displeasure, because, diffident of His promise, though often heretofore fulfilled, it had failed as a leader to carry out the terms of the covenant, by not driving out the heathen (Ex 23:24; De 31:16; 2Ki 17:15).

The Treasury of David

9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;

11 And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.

12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.

14 In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.

15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.

16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.

18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

19 Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

21 Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;

22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:

continued...

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The children of Ephraim: this passage concerns, either,

1. The tribe of Ephraim, and some exploit of theirs, wherein they met with this disaster; whether it were that mentioned 1 Chronicles 7:21, or some other not particularly related in any other place of Scripture. For we must not think that all the actions and events of the several tribes are recorded in Scripture, but only some of the most memorable ones. Or,

2. The ten tribes, who are very frequently called Ephraim, because that tribe was the chief of them, and the seat of the kingdom. And so this is referred by some to the captivity of the ten tribes, 2 Kings 17, although the historical references of this Psalm seem not to go beyond David’s time. Or rather,

3. All the tribes and people of Israel, who are sometimes designed by the name of Ephraim, as Jeremiah 31:9,18,20 Zec 10:7; as well they might be, because of the eminency of this tribe, out of which came Joshua their first governor in Canaan, and in which the ark of God continued for a long time, and whose people were both most numerous and most valiant; and therefore they are fitly named for all, to show that this slaughter was not made amongst them for any defect of power or courage in them, but merely from God’s just judgment upon them for their sins here following. And that Ephraim is here put for all Israel seems to be evident from the following verses, wherein the sins upon which this overthrow is charged are manifestly the sins of all the children of Israel, and they who are here called Ephraim, are called Jacob and Israel, Psalm 78:21. And so this passage is by divers learned interpreters referred unto that dreadful overthrow related 1 Samuel 4; wherein they did not stand to fight, but turned their backs and fled, as is there expressed, which though it reached all Israel, yet Ephraim is particularly named, because as the ark, so the fight, was in that tribe; and therefore it may be presumed that the Ephraimites were a very considerable part of that Israelitish army. And the psalmist having related this amazing providence and judgment of God upon his own people, he falls into a large discourse of the causes of it, to wit, the great, and manifold, and continual sins of that and the former generations; which having prosecuted from hence to Psalm 78:60, he there returns to this history, and relates the sad consequences of that disaster, to wit, the captivity of the ark, and God’s forsaking of Shiloh and Ephraim, and removing thence to the tribe of Judah and Mount Zion, the reason of which change of place he designed to give in the relation of this passage.

Bows; which includes arrows; and these being then the chiefest and most common weapons, are put for all other arms.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The children of Ephraim being armed, and carrying bows,.... Or "casting" arrows out of the "bow" (a); they went out well armed to meet the enemy, and they trusted in their armour, and not in the Lord; and being skilful in throwing darts, or shooting arrows, promised themselves victory:

but turned back in the day of battle; fled from the enemy, could not stand their ground when the onset was made: what this refers to is not easy to determine; some think this with what follows respects the defection of the ten tribes in Rehoboam's time, which frequently go under the name of Ephraim; but we have no account of any battle then fought, and lost by them; and besides the history of this psalm reaches no further than the times of David; others are of opinion that it regards the time of Eli, when the Israelites were beaten by the Philistines, the ark of God was taken, Eli's two sons slain, and thirty thousand more, 1 Samuel 4:1. Ephraim being put for the rest of the tribes, the ark being in that tribe; others suppose that the affair between the Gileadites and Ephraimites, in the times of Jephthah, is referred to, when there fell of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand, Judges 12:1, many of the Jewish (b) writers take it to be the history of a fact that was done in Egypt before the children of Israel came out from thence; see 1 Chronicles 7:20, so the Targum,

"when they dwelt in Egypt, the children of Ephraim grew proud, they appointed the end (or term of going out of Egypt), and they erred, and went out thirty years before the end, with warlike arms, and mighty men carrying bows, turned back, and were slain in the day of battle;''

though it seems most likely to have respect to what was done in the wilderness, as Kimchi observes, after they were come out of Egypt, and had seen the wonders of God there, and at the Red sea, and in the wilderness; and perhaps reference is had to the discomfiture of the Israelites by the Amalekites, when they went up the hill they were forbid to do, and in which, it may be, the Ephraimites were most forward, and suffered most; see Numbers 14:40.

(a) "jacientes arcu", Pagninus, Montanus; "jaculantes arcu", Tigurine version, Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus, Michaelis. (b) See Pirke Eliezer, c. 48. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 7. 2.

Geneva Study Bible

The children of {h} Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

(h) By Ephraim he means also the rest of the tribes, because they were most in number: whose punishment declares that they were unfaithful to God, and by their multitude and authority had corrupted all others.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. This verse presents serious difficulties. (1) It seems to speak of some well-known act of cowardice on the part of the Ephraimites. But why should cowardice in war be censured, when it is disloyalty to God of which the Psalmist is speaking? It has been suggested that it refers to the slackness of Ephraim in prosecuting the conquest of Canaan (Judges 1), regarded as shewing their distrustfulness of God, in view of all the mighty works that He had done for them in the past. But it seems better to understand it figuratively (cp. Psalm 78:57), to mean that the Ephraimites were like cowards who flee in battle, and failed to fight for the cause of God. (2) Why are the Ephraimites particularly named, when the context refers to all Israel? Possibly to point forward to the rejection of Ephraim and choice of Judah which is the climax of the Psalm (Psalm 78:67). Psalm 78:10-11 must then be taken with Psalm 78:9, as a literal description of the disobedience and unfaithfulness of the Ephraimites.

After all attempts to explain it, the verse remains obscure, and many commentators suppose that it is an interpolation or that the text is in some way corrupt. The absence of parallelism and rhythm casts some suspicion on it independently; and it may possibly have been a gloss suggested by Psalm 78:57, and inserted here as an illustration of Israel’s want of stedfastness (Psalm 78:8). Psalm 78:10 would follow naturally on Psalm 78:8, introducing the description of the rebellious generation, whose conduct is held up to reprobation for the admonition of their descendants.

9–16. Israel’s disobedience and ingratitude, in spite of all God’s mercies to them at the Exodus and in the wilderness.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 9-72. - The historical portion of the psalm now follows. It commences with some general remarks on the transgressions of Ephraim, i.e. of Israel while under the guidance of Ephraim - from Joshua to Samuel (vers. 9-11). It then proceeds to details, and sketches the Israelite history. from the deliverance out of Egypt to the establishment of David's kingdom (vers, 12-72). Verse 9. - The children of Ephraim (comp. ver. 67). Ephraim was the leading tribe, from the appointment of Joshua to succeed Moses until the establishment of Saul as king. Hence the tabernacle was set up within the territory of Ephraim (Joshua 18:1). The importance of Ephraim appears in Judges 3:27; Judges 7:24; Judges 8:1, 2; Judges 10:9; Judges 12:1-6. Being armed, and carrying bows. There is no "and" in the original. "Carrying bows" is exegetical of "being armed" (comp. 2 Chronicles 17:17). Turned back in the day of battle. The allusion is not to any one particular occasion, but to the ill success of Israel under the leadership of Ephraim during the whole period of the Judges (see Judges 2:14; Judges 3:8, 13, 31; Judges 4:2; Judges 6:1; Judges 10:7, 12, etc.). Psalm 78:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Psalm 78:9, which comes in now in the midst of this description, is awkward and unintelligible. The supposition that "the sons of Ephraim" is an appellation for the whole of Israel is refuted by Psalm 78:67. The rejection of Ephraim and the election of Judah is the point into which the historical retrospect runs out; how then can "the sons of Ephraim" denote Israel as a whole? And yet what is here said of the Ephraimites also holds good of the Israelites in general, as Psalm 78:57 shows. The fact, however, that the Ephraimites are made specially conspicuous out of the "generation" of all Israel, is intelligible from the special interest which the Psalms of Asaph take in the tribes of Joseph, and here particularly from the purpose of practically preparing the way for the rejection of Shiloh and Ephraim related further on. In Psalm 78:10 and Psalm 78:11 the Ephraimites are also still spoken of; and it is not until Psalm 78:12, with the words "in sight of their fathers," that we come back again to the nation at large. The Ephraimites are called נושׁקי רומי־קשׁת in the sense of נושׁקי קשׁת רומי קשׁת; the two participial construct forms do not stand in subordination but in co-ordination, as in Jeremiah 46:9; Deuteronomy 33:19; 2 Samuel 20:19, just as in other instances also two substantives, of which one is the explanation of the other, are combined by means of the construct, Job 20:17, cf. 2 Kings 17:13 Ker. It is therefore: those who prepare the bow, i.e., those arming themselves therewith (נשׁק as in 1 Chronicles 12:2; 2 Chronicles 17:17), those who cast the vow, i.e., those shooting arrows from the bow (Jeremiah 4:29), cf. Bttcher, 728. What is predicated of them, viz., "they turned round" (הפך as in Judges 20:39, Judges 20:41), stands in contrast with this their ability to bear arms and to defend themselves, as a disappointed expectation. Is what is meant thereby, that the powerful warlike tribe of Ephraim grew weary in the work of the conquest of Canaan (Judges 1), and did not render the services which might have been expected from it? Since the historical retrospect does not enter into details until Psalm 78:12 onwards, this especial historical reference would come too early here; the statement consequently must be understood more generally and, according to Psalm 78:57, figuratively: Ephraim proved itself unstable and faint-hearted in defending and in conducting the cause of God, it gave it up, it abandoned it. They did not act as the covenant of God required of them, they refused to walk (ללכת, cf. ללכת, Ecclesiastes 1:7) within the limit and track of His Tra, and forgot the deeds of God of which they had been eye-witnesses under Moses and under Joshua, their comrades of the same family.