Psalms 106:1-11

1 Alleluia. Acknowledge ye to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy is [into] without end. (Alleluia. Give ye thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his love is forever.)

2 Who shall speak (of) the powers of the Lord; shall make known all his praisings? (Who shall speak of the Lord's powers? who shall make known all his praises?/who shall make known all the praises that he is due?)

3 Blessed be they that keep doom; and do rightfulness in all time. (Happy be they who obey his commands, or his judgements; and who always do what is right.)

4 Lord, have thou mind on us, in the good pleasance of thy people; visit thou us in thine health. (Lord, remember me when thou helpest thy people; include me in their salvation, or in their deliverance.)

5 To see in the goodness of thy chosen men, to be glad in the gladness of thy folk; that thou be praised with thine heritage. (So that I may see the goodness of thy chosen people, and that I be glad, or rejoice, in the gladness of thy nation; and so that I may have glory with thy inheritance.)

6 We have sinned with our fathers; we have done unjustly, we have done wickedness. (We have all sinned like our forefathers; we have all done unjustly, we have all done wickedness.)

7 Our fathers in Egypt understood not thy marvels; they were not mindful of the multitude of thy mercy. And they going into the sea, into the Red Sea, stirred (him) to wrath; (Our forefathers in Egypt did not understand thy marvellous deeds; they did not remember thy many loving deeds. And they stirred thee to anger at the sea, yea, at the Red Sea/And they rebelled against thee at the sea, yea, at the Sea of Reeds;)

8 and he saved them for his name, that he should make known his power. (but still he saved them for the sake of his name, so that he could make known his power.)

9 And he parted the Red Sea, and it was dried; and he led forth them in the depths of waters, as in desert. (And he parted the Red Sea, or the Sea of Reeds, and it dried up; and he led them forth through the depths of the waters, as though through the wilderness.)

10 And he saved them from the hand of haters; and he again-bought them from the hand of the enemy (and he redeemed them from the power of the enemy).

11 And the waters covered men troubling them; one of them abode not. (And then the waters covered the men who troubled them; yea, not one of them was left alive.)

Psalms 106:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 106

This psalm is without the name of its author, as the Syriac interpreter observes. Aben Ezra, on Ps 106:47, says, that one of the wise men of Egypt (perhaps Maimonides) was of opinion that it was written in the time of the judges, when there was no king in Israel; and another, he says, thought it was written in Babylon: but he was of opinion it was wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, or by a prophetic spirit, concerning their present captivity; and so Kimchi. The petition in Ps 106:47, "gather us from among the Heathen", has led most interpreters to conclude that it was written either in the Babylonish captivity, or, as some, in the times of Antiochus: but by comparing it with 1Ch 16:7, it appears that it was written by David, at the time of the bringing up of the ark to Zion; since the first and two last verses of it are there expressly mentioned, in the psalm he gave Asaph to sing on that occasion, Ps 106:34-36, who therein might have respect to the Israelites that had been taken captive by some of their neighbours, as the Philistines, and still retained; though there is no difficulty in supposing that David, under a prophetic spirit, foresaw future captivities, and represents those that were in them. As the preceding psalm treats of the mercies and favours God bestowed upon Israel, this of their sins and provocations amidst those blessings, and of the goodness of God unto them; that notwithstanding he did not destroy them from being a people; for which they had reason to be thankful.