Psalm 105:9

Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) Made.—Literally, cut; the usual word for making a covenant (icere fœdus). The word is therefore here a synonym for “league,” as in Haggai 2:5.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

105:8-23 Let us remember the Redeemer's marvellous works, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth. Though true Christians are few number, strangers and pilgrims upon earth, yet a far better inheritance than Canaan is made sure to them by the covenant of God; and if we have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, none can do us any harm. Afflictions are among our mercies. They prove our faith and love, they humble our pride, they wean us from the world, and quicken our prayers. Bread is the staff which supports life; when that staff is broken, the body fails and sinks to the earth. The word of God is the staff of spiritual life, the food and support of the soul: the sorest judgment is a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. Such a famine was sore in all lands when Christ appeared in the flesh; whose coming, and the blessed effect of it, are shadowed forth in the history of Joseph. At the appointed time Christ was exalted as Mediator; all the treasures of grace and salvation are at his disposal, perishing sinners come to him, and are relieved by him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Which covenant he made with Abraham - Which he "ratified" with Abraham. Literally, "which he cut with Abraham." Genesis 17:2-14. Compare the notes at Psalm 50:5.

And his oath unto Isaac - Confirming the promise made to Abraham. See Genesis 26:2-5.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. Which covenant—or, "Word" (Ps 105:8).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Wherewith he ratified the covenant with Isaac, Genesis 26:3.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Which covenant he made with Abraham,.... Or made it known unto him, and showed him his particular interest in it; promised that he would be his God, that he would bless him; and that in his seed, the Messiah, that should spring from him, all nations of the earth should be blessed, Genesis 12:2, compare with this Luke 1:72.

And his oath unto Isaac: he made known to Isaac the oath which he swore to Abraham, and promised to perform it, Genesis 26:3, or concerning Isaac (a); in whom his seed was to be called, and in whose line from him the Messiah was to come, the grand article of this covenant.

(a) de Isahac, Vatablus.

Geneva Study Bible

Which covenant he {e} made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac;

(e) The promise God made to Abraham to be his God, and the God of his seed after him, he renewed and repeated again to his seed after him.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9, 10. For the covenant with Abraham see Genesis 17:2 ff; Genesis 15:18; and cp. the promises, Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:14 ff. The oath sworn to Abraham (Genesis 22:16) was confirmed to Isaac (Genesis 26:3), and to Jacob at Bethel when he was on his way to Paddan-aram (Genesis 28:13 ff.), and again in the same place on his return, after his name had been changed to Israel (Psalm 35:9 ff.). The promise made to Abraham was renewed to Isaac and Jacob, because in their persons it was limited to a particular branch of Abraham’s descendants.

for a law] For a statute, or, decree, as in Psalm 2:7.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - Which covenant he made with Abraham (see Genesis 15:18). A promise was given even earlier (Genesis 12:14, 15); but it is not spoken of as a "covenant." And his oath unto Isaac. The "oath" was originally sworn to Abraham (Genesis 22:16); but a further promise to "perform the oath" was given to Isaac (Genesis 26:3). Psalm 105:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The poet now begins himself to do that to which he encourages Israel. Jahve is Israel's God: His righteous rule extends over the whole earth, whilst His people experience His inviolable faithfulness to His covenant. יהוה in Psalm 105:7 is in apposition to הוּא, for the God who bears this name is as a matter of course the object of the song of praise. זכר is the perfect of practically pledges certainty (cf. Psalm 111:5, where we find instead the future of confident prospect). The chronicler has זכרוּ instead (lxx again something different: μνημονεύωμεν); but the object is not the demanding but the promissory side of the covenant, so that consequently it is not Israel's remembering but God's that is spoken of. He remembers His covenant in all time to come, so that exile and want of independence as a state are only temporary, exceptional conditions. צוּה has its radical signification here, to establish, institute, Psalm 111:9. לאלף דּור (in which expression דור is a specifying accusative) is taken from Deuteronomy 7:9. And since דּבר is the covenant word of promise, it can be continued אשׁר כּרת; and Haggai 2:5 (vid., Khler thereon) shows that אשׁר is not joined to בריתו over Psalm 105:8. וּשׁבוּעתו, however, is a second object to זכר (since דּבר with what belongs to it as an apposition is out of the question). It is the oath on Moriah (Genesis 22:16) that is meant, which applied to Abraham and his seed. לישׂחק (chronicler ליצחק), as in Amos 7:9; Jeremiah 33:26. To זכר is appended ויּעמרדה; the suffix, intended as neuter, points to what follows, viz., this, that Canaan shall be Israel's hereditary land. From Abraham and Isaac we come to Jacob-Israel, who as being the father of the twelve is the twelve-tribe nation itself that is coming into existence; hence the plural can alternate with the singular in Psalm 105:11. את־ארץ כּנען (chronicler, without the את) is an accusative of the object, and חבל נחלתכם accusative of the predicate: the land of Canaan as the province of your own hereditary possession measured out with a measuring line (Psalm 78:55).