Psalms 78:26

26 He turned over the south wind from heaven; and he brought in by his virtue the west wind. (He sent the south wind down from the heavens; and he brought in the west wind by his strength, or his power.)

Psalms 78:26 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 78:26

He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens
In the airy heaven: or "he caused it to go" F6; to go forth out of its place, out of the repositories and treasures of it, from whence he brings the wind, ( Psalms 130:7 ) the winds are under the power and government of God, they are his servants that obey him; he says to one, Go, and it goes; and to another, Come, and it comes; stormy wind fulfils his word of command, and obeys its Creator:

and by his power he brought in the south wind;
into the heavens, into the air, as before, and with it he brought the quails; and which made his power to appear the greater, since they do not fly with the south wind, which is too moist and heavy for them, as naturalists observe {g}; it looks as if first one wind blew, and then another was used for the bringing of them from the place where they were; perhaps about the Red sea, where they are said to have been in great numbers; and that the east wind brought them to a certain point, and then the south wind blew to bring them into the camp of Israel, where, by the moistness of it, they fell; hence fowlers, as the above naturalists relate, observe the south wind, in order to take them; though it may be that only one wind is intended, namely, the southeast wind; and so Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, understand it.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 (eoy) "fecit proficisci", Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus.
F7 Aristot. de Hist. Animal. l. 8. c. 12. Plin. Hist. l. 10. c. 23.

Psalms 78:26 In-Context

24 And he rained to them manna for to eat; and he gave to them bread of heaven. (And he rained down manna for them to eat; yea, he gave them the bread of heaven.)
25 Man ate the bread of angels; he sent to them meats in abundance (he sent them an abundance of food).
26 He turned over the south wind from heaven; and he brought in by his virtue the west wind. (He sent the south wind down from the heavens; and he brought in the west wind by his strength, or his power.)
27 And he rained fleshes as dust on them; and also volatiles feathered, as the gravel of the sea. (And he rained down flesh upon them, like a dust storm; yea, as many feathered fowls as the sand of the sea.)
28 And those felled in the midst of their castles; about the tabernacles of them. (And they fell in the midst of their camp; all about their tents.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.