Psalm 78:50

50 He made a way for his wrath; he spared not their souls from death, but consigned their cattle to death;

Psalm 78:50 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 78:50

He made a way to his anger
Or, "for" it, so that nothing could obstruct it, or hinder the execution of it; or "he weighed a path for his anger" ^F13; he weighed it in the balance of justice, and proportioned his anger to their crimes, and punished them according to their just deserts:

he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the
pestilence;
which some understand of their cattle, and of the murrain that came upon them, by which they were destroyed, and which was the fifth plague of Egypt, ( Exodus 9:3 ) , so the Targum,

``their beasts he delivered unto death;''

but Aben Ezra interprets it of the slaughter of the firstborn, expressed in the following verse; and so others.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 (wpal bytn olpy) "ponderavit semitam furori suo", Pagninus, Vatablus; "libravit semitam irae suae", Tigurine version; "iter ad iram suam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Psalm 78:50 In-Context

48 And he gave up their cattle to hail, and their substance to the fire.

49 He sent out against them the fury of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and affliction, a message by evil angels.

50 He made a way for his wrath; he spared not their souls from death, but consigned their cattle to death;

51 and smote every first-born in the land of Egypt; the first-fruits of their labours in the tents of Cham.

52 And he removed his people like sheep; he led them as a flock in the wilderness.