Psalms 83:1-6

1 O God, keep not thou silence: Hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult; And they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
3 Thy take crafty counsel against thy people, And consult together against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent; Against thee do they make a covenant:
6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagarenes;

Psalms 83:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 83

\\<>\\. This is the last of the psalms that bear the name of Asaph, and some think it was written by him on occasion of David's smiting the Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, Edomites, and others, 2Sa 8:1-14, but these did not conjunctly, but separately, fight with David, and were overcome by him; whereas those this psalm makes mention of were in a confederacy together; and besides, the Tyrians in David's time were in friendship with him; but are here mentioned as joining with others against Israel, Ps 83:7, others are of opinion that this was prophetic delivered out with respect to future times, either to the conspiracy of the enemies of the Jews against them in the times of the Maccabees, ``Now when the nations round about heard that the altar was built and the sanctuary renewed as before, it displeased them very much. &c.'' (1 Maccabees 5:1) or rather to the confederacy of the Moabites, Ammonites, and others, in the times of Jehoshaphat, 2Ch 20:1, so Kimchi, Arama, and the generality of interpreters: perhaps reference is had to the enemies of God's people, from age to age, both in the Old and in the New Testament; R. Obadiah understands it of the war of Gog and Magog.

The American Standard Version is in the public domain.