Psalm 100:3

Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(3) And not we ourselves.—Most commentators now prefer the reading “His we are,” as keeping the parallelism better, besides having great MS. support. The concluding part of the verse is an echo of Psalm 95:7.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 100:3-5. Know that the Lord — Hebrews Jehovah, he is God — The only living and true God; a being infinitely perfect, self-existent, and self- sufficient; and the fountain of all being; the first cause and last end of all things. It is he that hath made us — Not only by creation, but by regeneration, which is also called a creation, because by it we are made his people. Hence we owe him homage and service, and him only. and not other gods, who did neither make nor new-make us. He, and he only, hath an incontestable right to, and in us, and all things. His we are, to be influenced by his power, disposed of by his will, and devoted to his honour and glory. We are his people — Or subjects, and he is our prince or governor that gives law to us, as moral agents, and will call us to an account for what we do; the sheep of his pasture — Or, as the Hebrew may be rendered, the flock of his feeding, whom he takes care of and provides for. He that made us, maintains us, and gives us all things richly to enjoy. For the Lord is good — Infinite in goodness, and therefore doeth good. His mercy is everlasting — Is a fountain that can never be drawn dry. His truth endureth to all generations — And no word of his shall fall to the ground as antiquated or revoked: his promises are sure to all the faithful, from age to age. If this Psalm be considered as prophetical of the calling both of Jews and Gentiles to the profession of the gospel, then by the gates of Zion, Psalm 100:4, must be mystically understood the Christian Church.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

100:1-5 An exhortation to praise God, and rejoice in him. - This song of praise should be considered as a prophecy, and even used as a prayer, for the coming of that time when all people shall know that the Lord he is God, and shall become his worshippers, and the sheep of his pasture. Great encouragement is given us, in worshipping God, to do it cheerfully. If, when we strayed like wandering sheep, he has brought us again to his fold, we have indeed abundant cause to bless his name. The matter of praise, and the motives to it, are very important. Know ye what God is in himself, and what he is to you. Know it; consider and apply it, then you will be more close and constant, more inward and serious, in his worship. The covenant of grace set down in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, with so many rich promises, to strengthen the faith of every weak believer, makes the matter of God's praise and of his people's joys so sure, that how sad soever our spirits may be when we look to ourselves, yet we shall have reason to praise the Lord when we look to his goodness and mercy, and to what he has said in his word for our comfort.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Know ye that the Lord, he is God - That is, Let all the nations know that Yahweh is the true God. The idols are vanity. They have no claim to worship; but God is the Creator of all, and is entitled to universal adoration.

It is he that hath made us - The Hebrew is, "He made us," and this expresses the exact idea. The fact that he is the Creator proves that he is God, since no one but God can perform the work of creation. The highest idea that we can form of power is that which is evinced in an act of creation; that is, in causing anything to exist where there was nothing before. Every created thing, therefore, is a proof of the existence of God; the immensity of the universe is an illustration of the greatness of his power.

And not we ourselves - Margin, "And his we are." The difference between the text and the margin is owing to a different reading in the Hebrew, varying only in a single letter. The reading in the text is, "And not (לא lo') we;" in the margin, "And to him (לו lô) we." These words would be pronounced in the same manner, and either of them would convey good sense. The weight of authority is in favor of the common reading, "And not we;" that is, We are not self-created; we derive our being from him. All that we have and are, we owe to him.

We are his people - By virtue of creation. The highest "property" which can exist is that derived from an act of creation. He that has brought anything into existence has a right to it, and may dispose of it as he pleases. It is on this idea essentially that all idea of "property" is founded.

And the sheep of his pasture - As the shepherd owns the flock, so God is our owner; as the shepherd guards his flock and provides for it, so God guards us and provides for us. See the notes at Psalm 95:7.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3. To the obligations of a creature and subject is added that of a beneficiary (Ps 95:7).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

It is he that hath made us; both by creation, and by adoption and regeneration, whereby he made us his people, which also is called a creation or making, as Deu 32:6 Isaiah 29:23 43:7 Ephesians 2:10.

And not we ourselves; therefore we owe him homage and service, and him only, and not other gods, who made us not.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Know ye that the Lord he is God,.... Own and acknowledge him to be God, as well as man; and though a man, yet not a mere man, but the great God and our Saviour, the true God and eternal life; so a man, as that he is Jehovah's fellow; or our God, as the Syriac and Ethiopic versions; Immanuel, God with us, God in our nature, God manifest in the flesh:

it is he that hath made us; as men, without whom nothing is made that was made; in him we live, move, and have our being; and, as new creatures, we are his workmanship, created in him, and by him; regenerated by his Spirit and grace, and formed for himself, his service and glory; and made great and honourable by him, raised from a low to an high estate; from being beggars on the dunghill, to sit among princes; yea, made kings and priests unto God by him; so, Kimchi,

"he hath brought us up, and exalted us:''

and not we ourselves; that is, did not make ourselves, neither as creatures, nor as new creatures; as we have no hand in making either our souls or bodies, so neither in our regeneration, or in the work of God upon our hearts; that is solely the Lord's work: there is a double reading of this clause; the marginal reading is,

and we are his; which is followed by the Targum and Aben Ezra: both are approved of by Kimchi, and the sense of both is included; for if the Lord has made us, and not we ourselves, then we are not our own, but his, and ought to serve and glorify him: we are his by creation; "we are also his offspring", as said Aratus (d), an Heathen poet, cited by the Apostle Paul, Acts 17:28,

we are his people; by choice and covenant; by his Father's gift, and his own purchase; and by the power of his grace, bringing to a voluntary surrender and subjection to him; even the Gentiles particularly, who were not his people, but now his people, 1 Peter 2:9,

and the sheep of his pasture; his sheep also by gift and purchase, called by him, made to know his voice, and follow him; for whom he provides pasture, leads to it, and feeds them with it himself; see Psalm 74:1.

(d) . Arati Phaenomena, v. 5.

Geneva Study Bible

Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath {b} made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

(b) He chiefly means concerning spiritual regeneration, by which we are his sheep and people.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

3. Know that Jehovah is God:

He it is that made us, and we are his,

His people and the sheep of his pasture.

Learn from the works that He has wrought for Israel that Jehovah is the only true God. Cp. Psalm 46:10; Deuteronomy 7:9. He made Israel of old to be a people for Himself (Deuteronomy 32:6; Deuteronomy 32:15; Psalm 95:6), and now He has once more made them a nation (Isaiah 60:21). In spite of their sins He has not disowned them; they can still with confidence claim His care and guidance.

The A.V. and not we ourselves follows the K’thîbh, which is supported by the LXX, Syr., and Symm. The A.V. marg. and R.V. we are his., follow the Q’rç, which is supported by the Targ., Jer., and Aq.[55] Though the antithesis he and not we ourselves gives a good sense, the reading we are his is far more significant, as adding a fresh thought. Moreover it agrees best with the construction of the verse in the Heb., and it is supported by the parallels in Psalm 95:7; Isaiah 43:1, cp. Isaiah 43:21, Isaiah 44:2.

[55] The Heb. words for not and to him (= his) are pronounced identically (lô) though differently spelt (לֹא, לוֹ): hence the confusion between the readings not we and to him we = his (are) we was easy.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - Know ye that the Lord he is God; or, be sure - "recognize the fact as a certainty" (see the Prayer book Version). It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; or, according to another reading, and his are we. This latter reading is preferred by De Wette, Kay, Cheyne, and the Revised Version. But the other, which was the reading of the LXX., and is supported by the Vulgate and the old commentators generally, should, however, be retained, as yielding a better sense (see the arguments of Hengstenberg, 'Commentary on the Psalms,' vol. 3. p. 201, Engl. trans.). We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture (comp. Psalm 74:1; Psalm 79:13; Psalm 95:7). Psalm 100:3

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The call in Psalm 100:1 sounds like Psalm 98:4; Psalm 66:1. כּל־הארץ are all lands, or rather all men belonging to the earth's population. The first verse, without any parallelism and in so far monostichic, is like the signal for a blowing of the trumpets. Instead of "serve Jahve with gladness (בּשׂמחה)," it is expressed in Psalm 2:11, "serve Jahve with fear (בּיראה)." Fear and joy do not exclude one another. Fear becomes the exalted Lord, and the holy gravity of His requirements; joy becomes the gracious Lord, and His blessed service. The summons to manifest this joy in a religious, festive manner springs up out of an all-hopeful, world-embracing love, and this love is the spontaneous result of living faith in the promise that all tribes of the earth shall be blessed in the seed of Abraham, and in the prophecies in which this promise is unfolded. דּעוּ (as in Psalm 4:4) Theodoret well interprets δι ̓ αὐτῶν μάθετε τῶν πραγμάτων. They are to know from facts of outward and inward experience that Jahve is God: He hath made us, and not we ourselves. Thus runs the Chethξb, which the lxx follows, αὐτὸς ἔποήσεν ἡμᾶς καὶ οὐχ ἡμεῖς (as also the Syriac and Vulgate); but Symmachus (like Rashi), contrary to all possibilities of language, renders αὐτὸς ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς οὐκ ὄντας. Even the Midrash (Bereshith Rabba, ch. c. init.) finds in this confession the reverse of the arrogant words in the mouth of Pharaoh: "I myself have made myself" (Ezekiel 29:3). The Ker, on the other hand, reads לו,

(Note: According to the reckoning of the Masora, there are fifteen passages in the Old Testament in which לא is written and לו is read, viz., Exodus 21:8; Leviticus 11:21; Leviticus 25:30; 1 Samuel 2:3; 2 Samuel 16:18; 2 Kings 8:10; Isaiah 9:2; Isaiah 63:9; Psalm 100:3; Psalm 139:16; Job 13:15 cf. the note there, Psalm 41:4; Proverbs 19:7; Proverbs 26:2; Ezra 4:2. Because doubtful, Isaiah 49:5; 1 Chronicles 11:20 are not reckoned with these.)

which the Targum, Jerome, and Saadia follow and render: et ipsius nos sumus. Hengstenberg calls this Ker quite unsuitable and bad; and Hupfeld, on the other hand, calls the Chethb an "unspeakable insipidity." But in reality both readings accord with the context, and it is clear that they are both in harmony with Scripture. Many a one has drawn balsamic consolation from the words ipse fecit nos et non ipsi nos; e.g., Melancthon when disconsolately sorrowful over the body of his son in Dresden on the 12th July 1559. But in ipse fecit nos et ipsius nos sumus there is also a rich mine of comfort and of admonition, for the Creator of also the Owner, His heart clings to His creature, and the creature owes itself entirely to Him, without whom it would not have had a being, and would not continue in being. Since, however, the parallel passage, Psalm 95:7, favours ולו rather than ולא; since, further, ולא ,reh is the easier reading, inasmuch as הוּא leads one to expect that an antithesis will follow (Hitzig); and since the "His people and the sheep of His pasture" that follows is a more natural continuation of a preceding ולו אנחנו than that it should be attached as a predicative object to עשׂנוּ over a parenthetical ולא אנחנו: the Ker decidedly maintains the preference. In connection with both readings, עשׂה has a sense related to the history of redemption, as in 1 Samuel 12:6. Israel is Jahve's work (מעשׂה), Isaiah 29:23; Isaiah 60:21, cf. Deuteronomy 32:6, Deuteronomy 32:15, not merely as a people, but as the people of God, who were kept in view even in the calling of Abram.