Psalm 74:19

O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) O deliver.—To guide to the meaning of this verse, the word chayyah occurs in each clause, and it is presumable in the same sense (unless there is a purposed play on words). It may have one of three meanings: “life,” “animal,” “troop.” Psalm 17:9 suggests that chayyath nephesh go together in the sense of “greedy band,” and we get—

“Deliver not to the greedy band thy dove;

Forget not the band of the afflicted for ever.”

Benson Commentary

Psalm 74:19. O deliver not the soul — That is, the life; of thy turtle-dove — That is, thy church; unto the multitude of the wicked — Or, to the wild beast, as חית, chajath, often signifies: or, to the troop, namely, of her enemies. As if he had said, Thou hast delivered thy people into captivity; do not deliver them to death, nor suffer their enemies utterly to destroy them. The church is fitly compared to a turtle-dove, as resembling it in disposition, being simple, harmless, meek, faithful, solitary, timid, mournful, exposed to manifold injuries, and unable to defend itself.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

74:18-23 The psalmist begs that God would appear for the church against their enemies. The folly of such as revile his gospel and his servants will be plain to all. Let us call upon our God to enlighten the dark nations of the earth; and to rescue his people, that the poor and needy may praise his name. Blessed Saviour, thou art the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Make thy people more than conquerors. Be thou, Lord, all in all to them in every situation and circumstances; for then thy poor and needy people will praise thy name.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

O deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove - The "life" of thy turtle-dove; or, thy turtle-dove itself. The turtle-dove is a name of endearment for one beloved, in Sol 2:12, and is thus applied here to the people of Israel. The leading idea in such an application of the word is that of innocence, harmlessness, timidity, gentleness. The thought here is that of a people dear to God, now timid and alarmed. It is the prayer of a people beloved by God that he would not deliver them to their enemies. The prayer may be regarded as one which was used on the occasion referred to in the psalm; or, as a general prayer for the people of God, considered as exposed to ravening enemies.

Unto the multitude of the wicked - The words "of the wicked" are not in the original. The word rendered "multitude" - חיה chayâh - (compare the notes at Psalm 68:10) - is the same which in the other member of the sentence is rendered "congregation." It may be applied to a herd of cattle, tame or wild; and then to a "people" - a band, a troop, a host - whether of orderly and civilized, or of wild and savage people. It seems to be used in this double sense in the verse before us; in the first member of the verse, "deliver not thy turtle-dove "to the multitude" - to the wild beast, or to the savage hosts; in the latter, "forget not the congregation of thy poor" - thy flock - thy people - considered as timid or alarmed. Save the timid and trembling flock from beasts of prey.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

19. multitude—literally, "beast," their flock or company of men (Ps 68:10).

turtledove—that is, the meek and lonely Church.

congregation—literally, "the company," as above—thus the Church is represented as the spoiled and defeated remnant of an army, exposed to violence.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The soul, i.e. the life. Thou hast delivered thy people into captivity; do not deliver them to death, nor suffer their enemies utterly to destroy them.

Of thy turtle-dove, i.e. of thy church, which is fitly compared to a turtle-dove, because of the great resemblance of their dispositions and conditions, being simple, and harmless, and meek, and faithful, and mournful, and exposed to manifold injuries, and unable to defend itself from them.

Unto the multitude of the wicked; or, to the wild beast, as this word oft signifies; or, to the troop, to wit, of her enemies.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove,.... By which is meant the church, see Sol 2:14, which is comparable to this creature for its cleanness and purity, for its amiableness and beauty, for its harmlessness and innocence, for its modesty and meekness, for its affection and chastity to its mate, for its mournful and bemoaning voice for the loss of it, for its being a timorous and fearful creature, a weak one, and exposed to the prey of others; all which is true of the church, and may be applied to it: the Targum is,

"do not deliver the souls of them that teach thy law;''

the word having some affinity with "torah", the law; but Jarchi says, that Jonathan, in his Targum (which is not now extant) interprets it a turtle; the Syriac version, by the change of a letter, renders it, "the soul that confesseth thee": and the Arabic version, by a like change, and the addition of a letter, "the soul that knows thee"; all which, indeed, is applicable to the church of God; but our version expresses the true sense of the word, with which agree Jarchi, Kimchi, Ben Melech, and others: and it is a prayer of the church for herself; that the life of her members, their corporeal life (for not the soul, the better part, and its eternal concerns, are meant, which are safe in Christ's hands), might not be delivered

unto the multitude of the wicked, or "to the beast" (g); to persecutors comparable to lions and bears, and particularly the Romish antichrist, often called the beast in Revelation 11:8, do not deliver

"to the people, who are like to the beasts of the field, the souls of, &c.:''

forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever; the church of God is a congregation of men gathered out of the world by effectual grace, and consists chiefly of such who are literally poor, and all of them are spiritually so, and are sensible of it; for the most part they are a poor and "afflicted" (h) people, as the word may be also rendered, which the church is made up of; and may seem by themselves and others to be forgotten of God, when under divine desertions, or under afflictions, and immediate help is not given; but they are not forgotten, and still less for ever; see Isaiah 49:14.

(g) "ferae", Montanus, Piscator; "bestiae", Musculus, Vatablus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis; "bestiis", V. L. (h) "afflictorum tuorum", Montanus, Vatablus, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c.

Geneva Study Bible

O deliver not the soul of thy {n} turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.

(n) He means the Church of God, which is exposed as a prey to the wicked.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

19. The rendering of R.V., O deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast, is preferable to that of R.V. marg., O deliver not thy turtledove unto the greedy multitude. The dove is an emblem of the defenceless people.

forget not &c.] Forget not the family of thine afflicted ones for ever: or, the life of thine afflicted ones. There is a play upon the different senses of the word chayyath: in the first line it means wild beast (living creature), in the second family (or life). For the meaning family see note on Psalm 68:10.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 19. - O deliver net the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the multitude of the wicked; rather, O deliver not thy turtle dove unto the greedy multitude (Revised Version margin). Israel is beautifully compared to a pet dove, the gentlest and tenderest of birds. The Babylonians are the "greedy multitude" ready to kill and devour it. Forget not the congregation (or, the multitude) of thy poor forever. The "multitude of God's poor" is being carried off into a cruel captivity, or else left as a miserable remnant in an exhausted and desolated land - in either ease needing much God's protection and "remembrance." Psalm 74:19

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The poet, after he has thus consoled himself by the contemplation of the power of God which He has displayed for His people's good as their Redeemer, and for the good of the whole of mankind as the Creator, rises anew to prayer, but all the more cheerfully and boldly. Since ever present facts of creation have been referred to just now, and the historical mighty deeds of God only further back, זאת refers rather forwards to the blaspheming of the enemies which He suffers now to go on unpunished, as though He took no cognizance of it. חרף has Pasek after it in order to separate the word, which signifies reviling, from the most holy Name. The epithet עם־נבל reminds one of Deuteronomy 32:21. In Psalm 74:19 according to the accents חיּת is the absolute state (the primary form of חיּה, vid., on Psalm 61:1): give not over, abandon not to the wild beast (beasts), the soul of Thy turtle-dove. This is probably correct, since לחיּת נפשׁ, "to the eager wild beast," this inversion of the well-known expression נפשׁ חיּה, which on the contrary yields the sense of vita animae, is an improbable and exampleless expression. If נפשׁ were intended to be thus understood, the poet might have written אל־תתן לנפשׁ חיּה תורך, "give not Thy turtle-dove over to the desire of the wild beast." Hupfeld thinks that the "old, stupid reading" may be set right at one stroke, inasmuch as he reads אל תתן לנפש חית תורך, and renders it "give not to rage the life Thy turtle-dove;" but where is any support to be found for this לנפשׁ, "to rage," or rather (Psychology, S. 202; tr. p. 239) "to eager desire?" The word cannot signify this in such an isolated position. Israel, which is also compared to a dove in Psalm 68:14, is called a turtle-dove (תּור). In Psalm 74:19 חיּת has the same signification as in Psalm 74:19, and the same sense as Psalm 68:11 (cf. Psalm 69:37): the creatures of Thy miserable ones, i.e., Thy poor, miserable creatures - a figurative designation of the ecclesia pressa. The church, which it is the custom of the Asaphic Psalms to designate with emblematical names taken from the animal world, finds itself now like sheep among wolves, and seems to itself as if it were forgotten by God. The cry of prayer הבּט לבּרית comes forth out of circumstances such as were those of the Maccabaean age. בּרית is the covenant of circumcision (Genesis 17); the persecution of the age of the Seleucidae put faith to the severe test, that circumcision, this sign which was the pledge to Israel of God's gracious protection, became just the sign by which the Syrians knew their victims. In the Book of Daniel, Daniel 11:28, Daniel 11:30, cf. Psalm 22:32, ברית is used directly of the religion of Israel and its band of confessors. The confirmatory clause Psalm 74:20 also corresponds to the Maccabaean age, when the persecuted confessors hid themselves far away in the mountains (1 Macc. 2:26ff., 2 Macc. 6:11), but were tracked by the enemy and slain, - at that time the hiding-places (κρύφοι, 1 Macc. 1:53) of the land were in reality full of the habitations of violence. The combination נאות חמס is like נאות השׁלום, Jeremiah 25:37, cf. Genesis 6:11. From this point the Psalm draws to a close in more familiar Psalm - strains. אל־ישׁב, Psalm 74:21, viz., from drawing near to Thee with their supplications. "The reproach of the foolish all the day" is that which incessantly goes forth from them. עלה תּמיד, "going up (1 Samuel 5:12, not: increasing, 1 Kings 22:35) perpetually," although without the article, is not a predicate, but attributive (vid., on Psalm 57:3). The tone of the prayer is throughout temperate; this the ground upon which it bases itself is therefore all the more forcible.