Psalm 73:7

Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) Stand out with fatness.—Literally, go out from fat. Which, if referring to the appearance, is exactly the opposite to what we should expect. Sunken in fat would express the idea of gross sensuality. The eyes and heart are evidently used as in Jeremiah 22:17, the eyes as giving the outward index of what the heart wishes; and if we take the eyes here to mean not the organs of sight, but, by metonymy, the looks (comp. Song of Solomon 4:9), “they look out of fatness,” the expression is intelligible enough. Or we might perhaps take the eyes to stand for the countenance. (See Gesenius, sub voc.), their countenance stands out because of fatness. Or, by taking this clause in direct parallelism with the following, we might understand that restless looking about for fresh excitement which comes of satiety. The following lines illustrate the whole verse:

“Triumphant plenty, with a cheerful grace,

Basks in their eyes, and sparkles in their face;

How sleek they look, how goodly is their mien,

When big they strut behind a double chin.”

—DRYDEN.

They have more.—See margin. Or the verb may be intransitive: the imaginations of their hearts overflow.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

73:1-14 The psalmist was strongly tempted to envy the prosperity of the wicked; a common temptation, which has tried the graces of many saints. But he lays down the great principle by which he resolved to abide. It is the goodness of God. This is a truth which cannot be shaken. Good thoughts of God will fortify against Satan's temptations. The faith even of strong believers may be sorely shaken, and ready to fail. There are storms that will try the firmest anchors. Foolish and wicked people have sometimes a great share of outward prosperity. They seem to have the least share of the troubles of this life; and they seem to have the greatest share of its comforts. They live without the fear of God, yet they prosper, and get on in the world. Wicked men often spend their lives without much sickness, and end them without great pain; while many godly persons scarcely know what health is, and die with great sufferings. Often the wicked are not frightened, either by the remembrance of their sins, or the prospect of their misery, but they die without terror. We cannot judge men's state beyond death, by what passes at their death. He looked abroad, and saw many of God's people greatly at a loss. Because the wicked are so very daring, therefore his people return hither; they know not what to say to it, and the rather, because they drink deep of the bitter cup of affliction. He spoke feelingly when he spoke of his own troubles; there is no disputing against sense, except by faith. From all this arose a strong temptation to cast off religion. But let us learn that the true course of sanctification consists in cleansing a man from all pollution both of soul and body. The heart is cleansed by the blood of Christ laid hold upon by faith; and by the begun works of the Lord's Spirit, manifested in the hearty resolution, purpose, and study of holiness, and a blameless course of life and actions, the hands are cleansed. It is not in vain to serve God and keep his ordinances.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Their eyes stand out with fatness - As the fruit of their high living. They are not weakened and emaciated by toil and want, as other men often are. Compare the notes at Psalm 17:10.

They have more than heart could wish - Margin, "they pass the thoughts of the heart." Literally, "the imaginations or thoughts of the heart pass;" pass along; pass forth. The meaning seems to be, not that they have more than heart could desire, as in our translation - for that would not probably be true; nor, that the thoughts of the heart are "disclosed," as Prof. Alexander supposes - for that idea does not seem to be in the language; but that their thoughts, their plans, their purposes, pass freely along without any obstruction; their wishes are all gratified; their purposes are accomplished; they have all that they wish. Whatever comes into the mind as an object of desire is obtained without hindrance or trouble. They seem only to wish for a thing, or to think of a thing, and they have it.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3-9. The prosperous wicked are insolently proud (compare Ps 5:5). They die, as well as live, free from perplexities: pride adorns them, and violence is their clothing; indeed they are inflated with unexpected success. With all this—

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Their eyes stand out with fatness; as they do in some fat persons, though not in others. The meaning is, they live in great plenty and prosperity, as the next clause explains it.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Or their face, the eyes being put for the whole face; so the Targum,

"their face is changed, because of fatness;''

see Job 15:27, otherwise through fatness the eyes are almost enclosed: or "it goes forth out of the fatness of their eyes" (i); that is, either "pride", which shows itself in haughty looks and scornful airs, through the abundance possessed; or "violence", seen in the fierceness of the eyes, and fury of the countenance; or "their eyes go out through fatness" (k) that is, through the plenty they enjoy, their eyes go out in lust after lawful objects:

they have more than heart could wish; that they themselves could have wished for heretofore, though not now; for what is it that a worldly covetous heart cannot and does not wish for? if it had all the world, it would not satisfy it: or "the imaginations of the heart go on" (l); that is, after more, not being content with such things as they have; or "they", i.e. their pride and violence,

exceed the imaginations of the heart (m); they are more than can be conceived of, they overpass the deeds of the wicked, Jeremiah 5:28 or "they transgress by the imaginations of the heart" (n); which are evil, and that continually.

(i) "prodit vel exit e pinguedine oculorum eorum", Michaelis. (k) "Exivit prae adipe oculus eorum", Montanus; "egreditur prae pinguedine", Gejerus. (l) "pergunt cogitationes cordis eorum", Piscator. (m) "Excesserunt imaginationes cordis", Cocceius; "excedunt", Michaelis. (n) "Transgrediuntur cogitationibus cordis", Gejerus.

Geneva Study Bible

Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7. According to the Massoretic Text the first line describes the insolent look of these sleek-faced villains. Cp. Job 15:27. But the LXX and Syr. represent a different reading, which suits the probable sense of the next line better, and gets rid of a grammatical anomaly. Render

Their Iniquity cometh forth from the heart:

The imaginations of their mind overflow.

The word for heart is the same as that in Psalm 17:10, which according to Robertson Smith (Religion of the Semites, p. 360) means properly the midriff. The verse is thus a continuation of Psalm 73:6. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh”; and no fear or shame controls their utterance of their thoughts. Cp. Jeremiah 5:28.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 7. - Their eyes stand out with fatness. Their eyes, which gloat upon the luxuries around them, seem to stand out from their fat and bloated faces (comp. Job 15:27; Psalm 17:10). They have more than heart could wish; literally, the imaginations of their heart overflew. The exact meaning is doubtful. Psalm 73:7

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The reading עונמו, ἡ ἀδικία αὐτῶν (lxx (cf. in Zechariah 5:6 the עינם, which is rendered by the lxx in exactly the same way), in favour of which Hitzig, Bצttcher, and Olshausen decide, "their iniquity presses forth out of a fat heart, out of a fat inward part," is favoured by Psalm 17:10, where חלב obtains just this signification by combination with סגר, which it would obtain here as being the place whence sin issues; cf. ἐξέρχεσθαι ἐκ τῆς καρδίας, Matthew 15:18.; and the parallelism decides its superiority. Nevertheless the traditional reading also gives a suitable sense; not (since the fat tends to make the eyes appear to be deeper in) "their eyes come forward prae adipe," but, "they stare forth ex adipe, out of the fat of their bloated visage," מחלב being equivalent to מחלב פּניהם, Job 15:27. This is a feature of the character faithfully drawn after nature. Further, just as in general τὸ περίσσευμα τῆς καρδίας wells over in the gestures and language (Matthew 12:34), so is it also with their "views or images of the heart" (from שׂכה, like שׂכוי, the cock with its gift of divination as speculator): the illusions of their unbounded self-confidence come forth outwardly, they overflow after the manner of a river,

(Note: On the other hand, Redslob (Deutsch. Morgenlהnd. Zeitschr. 1860, S. 675) interprets it thus: they run over the fencings of the heart, from שׂכה in the signification to put or stick through, to stick into (infigere), by comparing קירות לבּי, Jeremiah 4:19, and ἕρκος ὀδόντων. He regards משׂכית sdrag and mosaic as one word, just as the Italian ricamare (to stitch) and רקם is one word. Certainly the root זך, Arab. zk, ḏk, has the primary notion of piercing (cf. זכר), and also the notion of purity, which it obtains, proceeds from the idea of the brilliance which pierces into the eye; but the primary notion of שׂכה is that of cutting through (whence שׂכּין, like מחלף, a knife, from חלף, Judges 5:26).)

viz., as Psalm 73:8 says, in words that are proud beyond measure (Jeremiah 5:28). Luther: "they destroy everything" (synon. they make it as or into rottenness, from מקק). But חמיק is here equivalent to the Aramaic מיּק (μωκᾶσθαι): they mock and openly speak ברע (with ā in connection with Munach transformed from Dech), with evil disposition (cf. Exodus 32:12), oppression; i.e., they openly express their resolve which aims at oppression. Their fellow-man is the sport of their caprice; they speak or dictate ממּרום, down from an eminence, upon which they imagine themselves to be raised high above others. Even in the heavens above do they set (שׁתּוּ as in Psalm 49:15 instead of שׁתוּ, - there, in accordance with tradition, Milel; here at the commencement of the verse Milra) their mouth; even these do not remain untouched by their scandalous language (cf. Jde 1:16); the Most High and Holy One, too, is blasphemed by them, and their tongue runs officiously and imperiously through the earth below, everywhere disparaging that which exists and giving new laws. תּהלך, as in Exodus 9:23, a Kal sounding much like Hithpa., in the signification grassari. In Psalm 73:10 the Chethb ישׁיב (therefore he, this class of man, turns a people subject to him hither, i.e., to himself) is to be rejected, because הלם is not appropriate to it. עמּו is the subject, and the suffix refers not to God (Stier), whose name has not been previously mentioned, but to the kind of men hitherto described: what is meant is the people which, in order that it may turn itself hither (שׁוּב, not: to turn back, but to turn one's self towards, as e.g., in Jeremiah 15:19)

(Note: In general שׁוּב does not necessarily signify to turn back, but, like the Arabic ‛âda, Persic gashten, to enter into a new (active or passive) state.))

becomes his, i.e., this class's people (cf. for this sense of the suffix as describing the issue or event, Psalm 18:24; Psalm 49:6; Psalm 65:12). They gain adherents (Psalm 49:14) from those who leave the fear of God and turn to them; and מי מלא, water of fulness, i.e., of full measure (cf. Psalm 74:15, streams of duration equals that do not dry up), which is here an emblem of their corrupt principles (cf. Job 15:16), is quaffed or sucked in (מצה, root מץ, whence first of all מצץ, Arab. mṣṣ, to suck) by these befooled ones (למו, αὐτοῖς equals ὑπ ̓ αὐτῶν). This is what is meant to be further said, and not that this band of servile followers is in fulness absorbed by them (Sachs). Around the proud free-thinkers there gathers a rabble submissive to them, which eagerly drinks in everything that proceeds from them as though it were the true water of life. Even in David's time (Psalm 10:4; Psalm 14:1; Psalm 36:2) there were already such stout spirits (Isaiah 46:12) with a servûm imitatorum pecus. A still far more favourable soil for these לצים was the worldly age of Solomon.