Psalm 53:6

Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Psalm 53:6. O that the salvation, &c. — See on Psalm 14:7.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

53:1-6 The corruption of man by nature. - This psalm is almost the same as the 14th. The scope of it is to convince us of our sins. God, by the psalmist, here shows us how bad we are, and proves this by his own certain knowledge. He speaks terror to persecutors, the worst of sinners. He speaks encouragement to God's persecuted people. How comes it that men are so bad? Because there is no fear of God before their eyes. Men's bad practices flow from their bad principles; if they profess to know God, yet in works, because in thoughts, they deny him. See the folly of sin; he is a fool, in the account of God, whose judgment we are sure is right, that harbours such corrupt thoughts. And see the fruit of sin; to what it brings men, when their hearts are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. See also the faith of the saints, and their hope and power as to the cure of this great evil. There will come a Saviour, a great salvation, a salvation from sin. God will save his church from its enemies. He will save all believers from their own sins, that they may not be led captive by them, which will be everlasting joy to them. From this work the Redeemer had his name JESUS, for he shall save his people from their sins, Mt 1:21.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Oh that the salvation of Israel ... - The only change here from Psalm 14:7 is that the word אלהים 'Elohiym, God, is substituted for "Jehovah," Lord, and that the word rendered "salvation" is here in the plural. On the supposition that the psalm was adapted to a state of things when the city had been besieged, and the enemy discomfited, this language would express the deep and earnest desire of the people that the Lord would grant deliverance. Perhaps it may be supposed, also, that at the time of such a siege, and while the Lord interposed to save them from the siege, it was also true that there was some general danger hanging over the people; that even the nation might be described as in some sense "captive;" or that some portions of the land were subject to a foreign power. The desire expressed is, that the deliverance might be complete, and that the whole land might be brought to the possession of liberty, and be rescued from all foreign domination. That time, when it should arrive, would be the occasion of universal rejoicing.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5. Instead of assurances of God's presence with the pious, and a complaint of the wicked, Ps 14:5, 6 portrays the ruin of the latter, whose "bones" even "are scattered" (compare Ps 141:7), and who are put to shame as contemptuously rejected of God.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!.... Or, "who will give (f) out of Zion the salvation of Israel?" The Targum adds, "except the Lord"; and this is a request to him for it: and, as in Psalm 14:7, it may be a wish for the first coming of Christ, to work out salvation for his people; here it may be expressive of the desire of the church for his coming in a spiritual manner, in the latter day, to take to himself his great power, and reign; to destroy antichrist, and deliver his people from bondage and oppression by him; when the Gentiles shall be gathered in, the Jews will be converted, and all Israel saved; see Romans 11:25. It is in the original text, "salvations" (g); denoting the complete salvation of the church; when all her enemies will be destroyed, and all peace and prosperity shall be enjoyed by her; See Gill on Psalm 14:6.

when God bringeth back the captivity of his people: who have been carried into it by antichrist, Revelation 13:10;

Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad; for now the kingdoms of this world will become Christ's; the marriage of the Lamb will be come, and the bride made ready, through the calling of the Gentiles, and the conversion of the Jews; which will occasion the twenty four elders, the representatives of the Christian church, to give thanks to the Lord God Almighty, and cause many voices to be heard in heaven, expressing great joy on this occasion, Revelation 11:15.

(f) "quis dabit", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c. (g) "salutes", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius; so Ainsworth.

Geneva Study Bible

Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. Concluding prayer for the full restoration of Israel. Some commentators have regarded this as a liturgical addition, but its presence in both recensions is in favour of its originality. It forms an appropriate conclusion to the Ps., and the recollection of past deliverance in Psalm 53:5 naturally passes into a prayer for further restoration.

the salvation of Israel] Lit. salvations, victory and deliverance full and complete. (Psalm 14:7 has the singular.) Zion is Jehovah’s dwelling-place, the centre from which He exercises His earthly sovereignty.

when God bringeth back &c.] Or, as R.V. marg., returneth to the captivity &c. For God Psalm 14:7 has Jehovah. At first sight these words seem to fix the date of the Psalm in the period of the Exile (Psalm 126:1). Nor does the phrase out of Zion exclude such a view. The exiles turned to Zion even in her desolation (Daniel 6:10; 1 Kings 8:44), and from thence Jehovah might be expected to restore His people. But (1) it is very probable that the phrase rendered bring back the captivity means rather turn the fortunes[26]. This meaning suits all the passages in which the phrase occurs, while turn the captivity does not, except in the figurative sense of restoring prosperity. See e.g. Job 42:10; Ezekiel 16:53; Zephaniah 2:7. And (2) even if turn the captivity is the original meaning, the phrase is used by Amos (Amos 9:14) and Hosea (Hosea 6:11) long before the Babylonian Captivity. In the time of Hezekiah the words might refer to the recent fall of the Northern Kingdom.

[26] Lit. turn a turning, the word sh’bûth being derived from shûb ‘to turn’ or ‘return,’ not from shâbâh, ‘to take captive.’ The regular word for the Babylonian captivity is gôlâh, ‘exile.’

then shall Jacob rejoice] Properly a wish or prayer (cp. Psalm 13:5-6): let Jacob rejoice, and Israel be glad.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - This verse is identical with Psalm 14:7, except in the substitution of "Elohim" for "Jehovah," and in the pointing of one word.



Psalm 53:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The two texts now again coincide. Instead of ישׁוּעת, we here have ישׁעות; the expression is strengthened, the plural signifies entire, full, and final salvation.