Psalm 18:40

Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(40) Thou hast also given.—Literally, and as to mine enemies, thou gavest to me the back, which either means “turned to flight so that only their backs were visible” (Jeremiah 18:17 and Psalm 21:12), or alludes to the common symbolism of defeat—trampling on an enemy’s neck.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 18:40-42. Thou hast given me the necks, &c. — That I might put my yoke upon their necks, or bring them into subjection. But Houbigant and some others render the clause, more agreeably to the Hebrew, As for my enemies, thou givest, or hast given, me their back: that is, hast made them turn their backs and flee from me. For the word ערŠ, gnoreph, here rendered neck, signifies the back part of the neck, and therefore is put for the back, as the LXX. translate it, and as it is rendered Exodus 23:27; Joshua 7:8; Joshua 7:12, and elsewhere. That I might destroy them that hate me — That I might have opportunity to destroy them. They cried unto the Lord — He speaks of his Israelitish enemies, who in their distresses prayed to God for help against him. I did beat them small as dust — These are hyperbolical expressions, signifying that his enemies had been perfectly subdued, and deprived of all power to make any further resistance. I did cast them out as dirt, &c. — As the mire in the streets I trampled them down. — Chandler.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

18:32, and the following verses, are the gifts of God to the spiritual warrior, whereby he is prepared for the contest, after the example of his victorious Leader. Learn that we must seek release being made through Christ, shall be rejected. In David the type, we behold out of trouble through Christ. The prayer put up, without reconciliation Jesus our Redeemer, conflicting with enemies, compassed with sorrows and with floods of ungodly men, enduring not only the pains of death, but the wrath of God for us; yet calling upon the Father with strong cries and tears; rescued from the grave; proceeding to reconcile, or to put under his feet all other enemies, till death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed. We should love the Lord, our Strength, and our Salvation; we should call on him in every trouble, and praise him for every deliverance; we should aim to walk with him in all righteousness and true holiness, keeping from sin. If we belong to him, he conquers and reigns for us, and we shall conquer and reign through him, and partake of the mercy of our anointed King, which is promised to all his seed for evermore. Amen.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies - Their necks to tread upon, as the result of victory; or their necks to be subject to me, as the neck of the ox is to his owner. The phrase is sometimes used in this latter sense to denote subjection (compare Jeremiah 27:12); but it is more commonly, when applied to war, used in the former sense, as denoting complete triumph or conquest. It was not uncommon to trample on the necks of those who were overcome in battle. See Joshua 10:24; Ezekiel 21:2; Genesis 49:8. The word used here - ערף ‛ôreph - means properly neck, nape, the back of the neck; and hence, to give the neck means sometimes to turn the back, as in flight; and the phrase would admit of that meaning here. So Gesenius (Lexicon) understands it. So also DeWette: "Thou turnest my enemies to flight." It seems to me, however, that the more probable interpretation is that of complete subjection - as when the conqueror places his foot on the necks of his foes. This is confirmed by the next member of the sentence, where the psalmist speaks of the complete destruction of those who hated him.

That I might destroy them that hate me - That have pursued and persecuted me in this manner. The idea is that of utterly overcoming them; of putting an end to their power, and to their ability to injure him.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

40. given me the necks—literally, "backs of the necks"; made them retreat (Ex 23:27; Jos 7:8).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Either,

1. That I might smite or behead them. Or,

2. That I might put my yoke upon their necks, or bring them into subjection. Or rather thus, Thou hast made them turn their backs to me, i.e. flee away from me; for so this very phrase is used and rendered, Exodus 23:27 Joshua 7:8,12, and elsewhere. So far are they mistaken, that say this Hebrew word oreph is only used for the neck, and not for the back. That I might destroy them; that I might have opportunity to destroy them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies,.... Either to slay them, or to trample or put a yoke upon them; or rather the sense is, thou hast made them to fly before me, to turn their necks or backs unto me, as the word is used in Joshua 7:8; and it is expressive of an utter rout and vanquishing of them;

that I might destroy them that hate me; they not being able to face him and stand against him.

Geneva Study Bible

Thou hast also {e} given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.

(e) You have given them to my hands to be slain.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

40. Yea mine enemies hast thou made to turn their backs unto me,

And as for them that hated me, I cut them off.

The first line means that his enemies were put to flight before him Exodus 23:27), not (as the A.V. seems to imply) that he planted his foot on their necks in token of triumph (Joshua 10:24).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 40. - Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; i.e. "thou hast made them turn their backs upon me in flight" (comp. Exodus 23:27, where the same expression is used). That I might destroy them that hate me. David must not be supposed to speak from personal animosity. He expresses himself as the king of God's people, bound to do his utmost to protect them, and to deliver them from the enemies who "hate" him only because he is the leader and champion of his countrymen. The neighbouring nations in David's time seem to have been bent on the total extirpation of the Hebrew people. Psalm 18:40

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 18:38-41) Thus in God's strength, with the armour of God, and by God's assistance in fight, he smote, cast down, and utterly destroyed all his foes in foreign and in civil wars. According to the Hebrew syntax the whole of this passage is a retrospect. The imperfect signification of the futures in Psalm 18:38, Psalm 18:39 is made clear from the aorist which appears in Psalm 18:40, and from the perfects and futures in what follows it. The strophe begins with an echo of Exodus 15:9 (cf. supra Psalm 7:6). The poet calls his opponents קמי, as in Psalm 18:49, Psalm 44:6; Psalm 74:23, cf. קימנוּ Job 22:20, inasmuch as קוּם by itself has the sense of rising up in hostility and consequently one can say קמי instead of עלי קמים (קומים 2 Kings 16:7).

(Note: In the language of the Beduins kôm is war, feud, and kômānı̂ (denominative from kōm) my enemy (hostis); kōm also has the signification of a collective of kōmānı̂, and one can equally well say: entum waijânâ kôm, you and we are enemies, and: bênâtnâ kôm, there is war between us.)

The frequent use of this phrase (e.g., Psalm 36:13, Lamentations 1:14) shows that קום in Psalm 18:39 does not mean "to stand (resist)," but "to rise (again)." The phrase נתן ערף, however, which in other passages has those fleeing as its subject (2 Chronicles 29:6), is here differently applied: Thou gavest, or madest me mine enemies a back, i.e., those who turn back, as in Exodus 23:27. From Psalm 21:13 (תּשׁיתמו שׁכם, Symm. τάξεις αὐτοὺς ἀποστρόφους) it becomes clear that ערף is not an accusative of the member beside the accusative of the person (as e.g., in Deuteronomy 33:11), but an accusative of the factitive object according to Ges. 139, 2.