Psalms 47:1-9 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Bible Study & Commentary

Verses 1-9

XLVII. Joy of all Mankind in Yahweh.— All nations are invited to rejoice in Yahweh’ s exaltation. It seems strange that they should be expected to rejoice in their own defeat; but this is explained by the belief ( Psalms 47:9) that the heathen nobles are to be gathered together with the people of the God of Abraham. In other words, they are to share in the promise made to Abraham ( Genesis 12:3), “ In thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” The Ps. is sung in the synagogues on the “ Feast of Trumpets” (p. 104, the Jewish New Year’ s Day. This ritual use may have been suggested by Psalms 47:5, or on the other hand, the Ps. may have been composed for liturgical use.

Psalms 47:3 . Translate “ He subdueth” ( mg.) .

Psalms 47:4 . chooseth ( mg.) , i.e. chooseth anew, by restoring it to us.— excellency of Jacob: substitute “ pride of Jacob,” i.e. the land of which the Jews are so proud.

Psalms 47:5 . God is gone up: the meaning may be that God came down to the sacrifices in the Temple on New Year’ s Day, and while the trumpets sounded, returned to His throne on high.

Psalms 47:7 . The rendering sing with understanding, though supported by the VSS, is certainly inadmissible. “ A didactic poem” is a possible rendering, so far as linguistic grounds go, but is quite out of keeping with the context. Probably some musical direction is intended, or we may write the word “ Maschil” in the plural and translate “ Sing ye that are skilful” [in music].

Psalms 47:9 . the shields of the earth: i.e. its princes and protection.

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

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Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

Arthur Samuel Peake (1865-1929) was an English biblical scholar, born at Leek, Staffordshire, and educated at St John's College, Oxford. He was the first holder of the Rylands Chair of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis in the University of Manchester, from its establishment as an independent institution in 1904. He was thus the first non-Anglican to become a professor of divinity in an English university.In 1890-92 he was a lecturer at Mansfield College, Oxford, and from 1890 to 1897 held a fellowship at Merton College.In 1892, however, he was invited to become tutor at the Primitive Methodist Theological Institute in Manchester, which was renamed Hartley College in 1906. He was largely responsible for broadening the curriculum which intending Primitive Methodist ministers were required to follow, and for raising the standards of the training.In 1895-1912 he served as lecturer in the Lancashire Independent College, from 1904 to 1912 also in the United Methodist College at Manchester. In 1904 he was appointed Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis in the (Victoria) University of Manchester. (This chair was in the Faculty of Theology established in that year; it was renamed "Rylands Professor, etc." in 1909.)Peake was also active as a layman in wider Methodist circles, and did a great deal to further the reunion of Methodism which took effect in 1932, three years after his death. In the wider ecumenical sphere Peake worked for the National Council of Evangelical Free Churches, serving as president in 1928, and was a member of the World Conference on Faith and Order held in Lausanne in 1927. He published and lectured extensively, but is best remembered for his one-volume commentary on the Bible (1919), which, in its revised form, is still in use.The University of Aberdeen made him an honorary D. D. in 1907. He was a governor of the John Rylands Library.... Show more

First published in 1919, Peake's commentary of the bible was a one-volume commentary that gave special attention to Biblical archaeology and the then-recent discoveries of biblical manuscripts. Biblical quotations in this edition were from the Revised Version of the Bible.... Show more

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