Psalms 149:4-9

4 For Yahweh takes pleasure in his people; he glorifies [the] afflicted with salvation.
5 Let [the] faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the extolling of God [be] in their throat, and a double-edged sword in their hand,
7 to execute vengeance on the nations [and] punishment on [the] peoples,
8 to bind their kings with chains and their {nobles} with fetters of iron,
9 to execute on them [the] judgment that is decreed. This [will be] honor for all his faithful ones; Praise Yah.

Psalms 149:4-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 149

This psalm is thought by Calvin and others to have been written for the sake of the Jews that returned from the Babylonish captivity; and is a prediction of great and famous things done in the times of the Maccabees to Heathens and their princes, so Theodoret; the Syriac version entitles it,

``concerning the new temple;''

that is, the second temple, built by Zerubbabel, and the things done under that; but it rather seems to have been written by David in the beginning of his reign, when he obtained victories over the Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Syrians; and refers to the times of the Messiah, as Kimchi, R. Obadiah Gaon, and others think; not of the Jews' vainly expected Messiah, but of the true Messiah, who is come, and will come again, spiritually and personally; and there are many things in it applicable both to the first and latter part of his days.

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. Reading against the MT and with the LXX
  • [b]. Literally "honorable ones"
  • [c]. Hebrew "written"
  • [d]. Hebrew hallelujah
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.