For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the
field
So as to receive no hurt from them, by walking among them, and
even barefoot, which was usual in the eastern countries, see (
Psalms
91:12 ) ; or by their being in the field, so as to hinder the
increase of them; but on the contrary, even from such fields as
were stony ground, a large crop has been produced, and so rather
receive benefit by them, as men do from those with whom they are
in league; and may therefore likewise signify, that these stones
should be useful in being boundaries or fences about their
fields, and landmarks in them, which should not be removed: many
interpreters take notice of a sense that Pineda gives of these
words, and which Cocceius calls an ingenious one, that it refers
to a custom in Arabia, which may be called Scopelism, and was
this; a man's enemies would lay stones in his field, and these
signified, that if any attempted to till and manure those grounds
where they were laid, some evil would befall him by the means of
those persons who laid the stones there; and which stones were
thought to be ominous and formidable; something like it is in (
2 Kings
3:19 2 Kings 3:25
) ; and so the sense is, that a good man had nothing to fear from
such stones, he being in league with them; and this malicious
practice is thought to have had its origin in Arabia Petraea
F9; but the first sense seems best:
and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with
thee;
a covenant being made with them, as in ( Hosea 2:18 ) ; meaning
either literally, the beasts of the field; and these either the
same as before, wild beasts, or beasts of prey; or rather, in
distinction from them, tame beasts, as cows and horses, which
should be so far from doing any harm, as sometimes is done by
these tame creatures, that they should be very serviceable in
tilling fields and drawing carriages, and the like: or else
figuratively, men comparable to such creatures; and so the sense
may be, that when a man's ways please the Lord, and he behaves
according to his mind and will, particularly under afflictions,
even his enemies are made to be at peace with him; ( Proverbs
16:7 ) ; the Targum interprets this of the Canaanites,
comparable to the beasts of the field.