Psalm 104:15

And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(15) And wine that . . .—Better, and wine gladdens man’s heart, making his face shine more than oil (see-margin. The alternative follows the LXX. and Vulg., and suggests the anointing with oil at a banquet), and bread man’s heart sustains.

Oil.—For oil and its uses see Psalm 133:2; Psalm 141:5.

Strengtheneth.—Properly, props or supports. (Comp. “the staff of bread,” Psalm 105:16), and our “staff of life,” and for the same phrase Genesis 18:5; Judges 19:5).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

104:10-18 When we reflect upon the provision made for all creatures, we should also notice the natural worship they render to God. Yet man, forgetful ungrateful man, enjoys the largest measure of his Creator's kindness. the earth, varying in different lands. Nor let us forget spiritual blessings; the fruitfulness of the church through grace, the bread of everlasting life, the cup of salvation, and the oil of gladness. Does God provide for the inferior creatures, and will he not be a refuge to his people?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And wine that maketh glad the heart of man ... - literally, "And wine (it) gladdens the heart of man to make his face to shine more than oil." Margin, "to make his face shine with oil, or more than oil." The latter expresses the idea most accurately. So DeWette renders it. The meaning is, that the earth is made to produce wine (or grapes which produce wine), and this exhilarates the heart, so that the effect is seen on the countenance, making it more bright and cheerful than it is when anointed with oil. On the use of oil, see the notes at Psalm 23:5. The reference here, in the original, is not to wine and oil as produced by the earth, as would seem to be implied in our translation, but to wine that makes the heart glad, and the face brighter than if anointed with oil. The psalmist here states a fact about the use of wine - a wellknown fact that it exhilarates the heart, and brightens the countenance; and he states it merely as a fact. He says nothing on the question whether the use of wine as a beverage is, or is not, proper and safe. Compare the notes at John 2:10.

And bread which strengtheneth man's heart - That is, Which sustains the heart - that being regarded as the seat of life. Compare Genesis 18:5.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

14, 15. so that men and beasts are abundantly provided with food.

for the service—literally, "for the culture," &c., by which he secures the results.

oil … shine—literally, "makes his face to shine more than oil," that is, so cheers and invigorates him, that outwardly he appears better than if anointed.

strengtheneth … heart—gives vigor to man (compare Jud 19:5).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Wine; he also bringeth out of the earth the vines which yield wine.

Oil to make his face to shine: he alludes to the custom of those times and places, which was upon solemn and festival occasions to anoint their faces with oil. See Psalm 23:5. But these words with the former are by divers learned interpreters rendered otherwise, which seems more agreeable to the order and contexture of the Hebrew text,

And (he giveth) wine that maketh glad the heart of man, to make (or, that he may make, i.e. that thereby he may also make) his face to shine more than oil, i.e. more than it shineth when it is anointed with oil; or, as with oil. So he speaks only of the wine, which he commends from two qualities, that it makes the heart cheerful, and the countenance pleasant.

Bread, i.e. bread corn, by a metonymy.

Which strengtheneth man’s heart; which hath a singular faculty to preserve or renew our strength and rigour; whence it is called the staff of life.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And wine that maketh glad the heart of man,.... That is, by means of rain watering the earth, vines are caused to grow out of it; which produce wine, that has such a virtue in it, as to cheer the heart of man, even of a miserable, distressed, and afflicted man, as the word (p) is supposed to signify, Judges 9:13. Of this nature are (and therefore are compared to wine, or expressed by it) the love of God and Christ; the blessings of grace, the doctrines of the Gospel, the ordinances of it; particularly that of the Lord's supper, and even the joys of heaven.

And oil to make his face to shine: or, "to make his face shine more than oil" (q); and so it continues the account of the virtue of wine, which not only cheers the heart, but makes the countenance brisk and lively, and even shine again: but, according to our version, and others, this is a distinct effect of the rain, causing olive trees to grow out of the earth, productive of oil; which being eaten, fattens, and so makes the face to shine; as it also does by anointing with it, which was much in use for that purpose in the eastern countries, as well as for cheering and refreshing; see Ruth 3:3. Pliny (r) says, oil purifies or clears; and particularly of oil of almonds, he says, that it makes clean, makes bodies soft, smooths the skin, procures gracefulness; and, with honey, takes spots or specks out of the face. Kimchi makes mention of another use of oil, in lighting lamps; by which the face of man is enlightened, or light is given him. So the Targum,

"to enlighten the face with oil.''

To this the grace of the Spirit is often compared in Scripture, with which both Christ and his members are said to be anointed, Acts 10:38. This not only cheers and refreshes them, and is therefore called the oil of joy and gladness, Psalm 45:7, but beautifies and adorns them, and even makes them fat and flourishing, and so their faces to shine; as well as causes their lamps of profession to burn clearly, and the light of their good works to shine before men to the glory of God.

And bread which strengthens man's heart: the earth being watered with rain, causes the wheat sown in it to grow up; of which bread is made for the support of man's life, and is the chief sustenance of it; and is therefore commonly called "the staff of life", and, by the prophet, "the whole stay of bread", Isaiah 3:1, by which human nature is invigorated, and the strength of man is kept up and increased; for the phrase, see Genesis 18:5. Of this nature are the provisions of God's house, which go by the same name, the word and ordinances; and especially Christ Jesus himself, the true and living bread; by which the Christian's spiritual life is supported and maintained, and he is comforted and refreshed, and strengthened for every good work.

(p) "mortalis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "sorry man", Ainsworth. (q) "prae oleo", Vatablus, Gejerus; "magis quam oleum", Piscator. (r) Nat. Hist. l. 23. c. 4.

Geneva Study Bible

And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 15. - And wine that maketh glad the heart of man. The food suitable to man consists, first, of wine, which gladdens his heart (comp. Judges 9:13); secondly, of oil to make his face to shine, or give him a cheerful countenance; and thirdly, of bread, which strengtheneth man's heart, which is "the staff of life," and the main sustenance of the entire body. It was the glory of the promised land to produce in abundance these three essentials (Deuteronomy 8:8; Deuteronomy 11:14; 2 Kings 18:32). Psalm 104:15

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In the fourth decastich the poet goes further among the creatures of the field and of the forest. The subject to להוציא is מצמיח. The clause expressing the purpose, which twice begins with an infinitive, is continued in both instances, as in Isaiah 13:9, but with a change of subject (cf. e.g., Amos 1:11; Amos 2:4), in the finite verb. On what is said of wine we may compare Ecclesiastes 10:19, Sir. 40:20, and more especially Isaiah, who frequently mentions wine as a representative of all the natural sources of joy. The assertion that משּׁמן signifies "before oil equals brighter than oil," is an error that is rightly combated by Bttcher in his Proben and two of his "Gleanings,"

(Note: Proben, i.e., Specimens of Old Testament interpretation, Leipzig 1833, and Aehrenlese (Gleanings), referred to in the preface of these volumes. - Tr.)

which imputes to the poet a mention of oil that is contrary to his purpose in this connection wand inappropriate. Corn, wine, and oil are mentioned as the three chief products of the vegetable kingdom (Luther, Calvin, Grotius, Dathe, and Hupfeld), and are assumed under עשׂב in Psalm 104:14, as is also the case in other instances where distinction would be superfluous, e.g., in Exodus 9:22. With oil God makes the countenance shining, or bright and cheerful, not by means of anointing-since it was not the face but the head that was anointed (Matthew 6:17), - but by the fact of its increasing the savouriness and nutritiveness of the food. להצהיל is chosen with reference to יצהר. In Psalm 104:15 לבב־אנושׁ does not stand after, as in Psalm 104:15 (where it is לבב־ with Gaja on account of the distinctive), but before the verb, because לבב as that which is inward stands in antithesis to פנים as that which is outside. Since the fertilization of the earth by the rain is the chief subject of the predication in Psalm 104:13, Psalm 104:16 is naturally attached to what precedes without arousing critical suspicion. That which satisfies is here the rain itself, and not, as in Psalm 104:13, that which the rain matures. The "trees of Jahve" are those which before all others proclaim the greatness of their Creator. אשׁר־שׁם refers to these trees, of which the cedars and then the cypresses (ברושׁים, root בר, to cut) are mentioned. They are places where small and large birds build their nests and lodge, more particularly the stork, which is called the חסידה as being πτηνῶν εὐσεβέστατον ζώων (Barbrius, Fab. xiii.), as avis pia (pietaticultrix in Petronius, Leviticus 6), i.e., on account of its love of family life, on account of which it is also regarded as bringing good fortune to a house.

(Note: In the Merg& district, where the stork is not called leklek as it is elsewhere, but charnuk[ on account of its bill like a long horn (Arab. chrn) standing out in front, the women and children call it Arab. 'bû sa‛d, "bringer of good luck." Like the חסידה, the long-legged carrion-vulture (Vultur percnopterus) or mountain-stork, ὀρειπελαργός, is called רחם (Arab. rḥm) on account of its στοργή.)

The care of God for the lodging of His creatures leads the poet from the trees to the heights of the mountains and the hiding-places of the rocks, in a manner that is certainly abrupt and that disturbs the sketch taken from the account of the creation. הגּבהים is an apposition. יעל (Arabic wa‛il) is the steinboc, wild-goat, as being an inhabitant of יעל (wa‛l, wa‛la), i.e., the high places of the rocks, as יען, Lamentations 4:3, according to Wetzstein, is the ostrich as being an inhabitant of the wa‛na, i.e., the sterile desert; and שׁפן is the rock-badger, which dwells in the clefts of the rocks (Proverbs 30:26), and resembles the marmot - South Arabic Arab. tufun, Hyrax Syriacus (distinct from the African). By שׁפן the Jewish tradition understand the coney, after which the Peshto here renders it לחגסא (חגס, cuniculus). Both animals, the coney and the rock-badger, may be meant in Leviticus 11:5; Deuteronomy 14:7; for the sign of the cloven hoof (פּרסה שׁסוּעה) is wanting in both. The coney has four toes, and the hyrax has a peculiar formation of hoof, not cloven, but divided into several parts.