Psalms 78:47

47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore trees with sleet.

Psalms 78:47 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 78:47

He destroyed their vines with hail
Or "killed" F11 them; for there is a vegetative life in plants: this was the seventh plague of Egypt, attended with thunder and lightning, and was very terrible to Pharaoh, ( Exodus 9:23 Exodus 9:28 ) , with this compare ( Revelation 16:21 ) ,

and their sycamore trees with frost:
sycamore trees, according to Kimchi, were a sort of wild figs, and these with the vines are only mentioned; though the plague of hail destroyed all sorts of trees; because there were many of these in Egypt, and are put for all others; and who also observes, that the word (lmnx) , rendered "frost", which is only used in this place, signifies a kind of hail; and so Aben Ezra interprets it of great hailstones which beat off the fruit of the sycamore trees: but R. Saadiah Gaon explains it by the Arabic word "Al-sakia", which signifies a strong frost which breaks the buds of trees, and dries up their moisture. Jarchi will have it to be, according to the Midrash, a kind of locust, which comes and sits and cuts off the green of the trees and grass, and eats it. Aben Ezra makes mention of this sense, but rejects it.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 (grhy) "occidit", Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "interfecit", Gejerus.

Psalms 78:47 In-Context

45 He sent among them flies that devoured them and frogs that destroyed them.
46 And he gave their crop to the locusts and their labor to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore trees with sleet.
48 He also handed their cattle over to the hail and their livestock to the lightning bolts.
49 He sent against them his fierce anger, rage and indignation and trouble, a band of {destroying} angels.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. The word for "sleet" is only used here, and the translation is a guess based on context
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