Psalm 24:10

Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) The Lord of hosts.—A second challenge from the reluctant gates serves as the inauguration of the great name by which the Divine nature was especially known under the monarchy. (For its origin and force, see Note on 1Samuel 1:3.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

24:7-10 The splendid entry here described, refers to the solemn bringing in of the ark into the tent David pitched for it, or the temple Solomon built for it. We may also apply it to the ascension of Christ into heaven, and the welcome given to him there. Our Redeemer found the gates of heaven shut, but having by his blood made atonement for sin, as one having authority, he demanded entrance. The angels were to worship him, Heb 1:6: they ask with wonder, Who is he? It is answered, that he is strong and mighty; mighty in battle to save his people, and to subdue his and their enemies. We may apply it to Christ's entrance into the souls of men by his word and Spirit, that they may be his temples. Behold, he stands at the door, and knocks, Rev 3:20. The gates and doors of the heart are to be opened to him, as possession is delivered to the rightful owner. We may apply it to his second coming with glorious power. Lord, open the everlasting door of our souls by thy grace, that we may now receive thee, and be wholly thine; and that, at length, we may be numbered with thy saints in glory.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Who is this King of glory? - See the notes at Psalm 24:8.

The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory - On the meaning of the phrase, "the Lord of hosts," see the notes at Isaiah 1:9. The essential idea is, that God rules over the universe of worlds considered as marshalled in order, or arrayed as hosts or armies are for battle. All are under His command. The stars in the sky, that seem to be marshalled and led forth in such perfect and beautiful order - the inhabitants of heaven in their different orders and ranks - all these acknowledge Him, and submit to Him as the supreme God. In the close of the psalm, therefore, there is an exact accordance with the thought in the beginning, that God is the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, and that He should everywhere be recognized and regarded as such. The entrance of the ark of the covenant into the place provided for it as a permanent residence was a fit occasion to proclaim this thought; and this is proclaimed in the psalm in a manner befitting so solemn an occasion and so sublime a truth.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10. Lord of hosts—or fully, Lord God of hosts (Ho 12:5; Am 4:13), describes God by a title indicative of supremacy over all creatures, and especially the heavenly armies (Jos 5:14; 1Ki 22:19). Whether, as some think, the actual enlargement of the ancient gates of Jerusalem be the basis of the figure, the effect of the whole is to impress us with a conception of the matchless majesty of God.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Under whose command are all the hosts of heaven and earth, angels and men, and ah other creatures.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Who is this King of glory?.... This is repeated, because of the preceding words, and in order to have a further account of his glorious Person, as follows:

the Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory; he who is the Lord of sabaoth, the Lord of the armies, both of the heavens and the earth; at whose dispose and control all things are in both worlds, above and below: this is the great and glorious Person that condescends to dwell in his churches, and in the hearts of his people; and this honour have his saints.

Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psalm 3:2.

Geneva Study Bible

Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. The Lord of hosts] The climax is reached. He claims to enter, not merely as a victorious warrior, but as the Sovereign of the Universe. The great title Jehovah Tsebâôth or Lord of hosts, which was characteristic of the regal and prophetic period, meets us here for the first time in the Psalter. Originally perhaps it designated Jehovah as “the God of the armies of Israel” (1 Samuel 17:45), who went forth with His people’s hosts to battle (Psalm 44:9; Psalm 40:10), and whose Presence was the source of victory (Psalm 46:7; Psalm 46:11). But as the phrase “host of heaven” was used for the celestial bodies (Genesis 2:1), and celestial beings (1 Kings 22:19), the meaning of the title was enlarged to designate Jehovah as the ruler of the heavenly powers, the supreme Sovereign of the universe. Hence one of the renderings in the LXX is κύριος παντοκράτωρ, Lord Almighty, or rather, All-sovereign. See Additional Note on 1 Samuel in this series, p. 235.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - Who is this King of glory? The second part of the choir reiterates its question, as though not yet quite understanding. "Who is he, this King of glory?" and the first, slightly varying its answer, replies, The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. The epithet, "Lord of hosts" well known at the time (1 Samuel 1:11; 2 Samuel 5:10; 2 Samuel 6:2; 2 Samuel 7:18, 26, 27, etc.), made all clear, and, the gates being thrown open, the ark was brought in, and set in its place in the midst of the tabernacle (2 Samuel 6:17). It has been generally recognized that the reception of the ark into the tabernacle on Mount Zion typified the entrance of our Lord into heaven after his ascension, whence our Church appoints this psalm as one of those to be recited on Ascension Day.



Psalm 24:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The festal procession has now arrived above at the gates of the citadel of Zion. These are called פּתחי עולם, doors of eternity (not "of the world" as Luther renders it contrary to the Old Testament usage of the language) either as doors which pious faith hopes will last for ever, as Hupfeld and Hitzig explain it, understanding them, in opposition to the inscription of the Psalm, to be the gates of Solomon's Temple; or, what seems to us much more appropriate in the mouth of those who are now standing before the gates, as the portals dating back into the hoary ages of the past (עולם as e.g., in Genesis 49:26; Isaiah 58:12), the time of the Jebusites, and even of Melchizedek, though which the King of Glory, whose whole being and acts is glory, is now about to enter. It is the gates of the citadel of Zion, to which the cry is addressed, to expand themselves in a manner worthy of the Lord who is about to enter, for whom they are too low and too strait. Rejoicing at the great honour, thus conferred upon them, they are to raise their heads (Job 10:15; Zechariah 2:4), i.e., lift up their portals (lintels); the doors of antiquity are to open high and wide.

(Note: On the Munach instead of Metheg in והנּשׂיאוּ, vid., Baer's Accentsystem vii. 2.)

Then the question echoes back to the festal procession from Zion's gates which are wont only to admit mighty lords: who, then (זה giving vividness to the question, Ges. 122, 2), is this King of Glory; and they describe Him more minutely: it is the Hero-god, by whom Israel has wrested this Zion from the Jebusites with the sword, and by whom he has always been victorious in time past. The adjectival climactic form עזּוּז (like למּוּד, with ı̆ instead of the ă in חנּוּן, קשּׁוּב) is only found in one other passage, viz., Isaiah 43:17. גּבּור מלחמה refers back to Exodus 15:3. Thus then shall the gates raise their heads and the ancient doors lift themselves, i.e., open high and wide; and this is expressed here by Kal instead of Niph. (נשׂא to lift one's self up, rise, as in Nahum 1:5; Hosea 13:1; Habakkuk 1:3), according to the well-known order in which recurring verses and refrain-like repetitions move gently onwards. The gates of Zion ask once more, yet now no longer hesitatingly, but in order to hear more in praise of the great King. It is now the enquiry seeking fuller information; and the heaping up of the pronouns (as in Jeremiah 30:21, cf. Psalm 46:7; Esther 7:5) expresses its urgency (quis tandem, ecquisnam). The answer runs, "Jahve Tsebaoth, He is the King of Glory (now making His entry)." צבאות ה is the proper name of Jahve as King, which had become His customary name in the time of the kings of Israel. צבאות is a genitive governed by ה and, while it is otherwise found only in reference to human hosts, in this combination it gains, of itself, the reference to the angels and the stars, which are called צבאיו in Psalm 103:21; Psalm 148:2 : Jahve's hosts consisting of celestial heroes, Joel 2:11, and of stars standing on the plain of the havens as it were in battle array, Isaiah 40:26 -a reference for which experiences and utterances like those recorded in Genesis 32:2., Deuteronomy 33:2; Judges 5:20, have prepared the way. It is, therefore, the Ruler commanding innumerable and invincible super-terrestrial powers, who desires admission. The gates are silent and open wide; and Jahve, sitting enthroned above the Cherubim of the sacred Ark, enters into Zion.