They have taken crafty counsel against thy
people
The people of Israel, hereafter named, whom God had chosen and
avouched to be his people; these they dealt subtlety with, as the
king of Egypt had done with their forefathers; and this,
agreeably to their character, being the seed of the old serpent,
more subtle than any of the beasts of the field; these devised
cunning devices, formed crafty schemes for the destruction of the
Lord's people; but often so it is, that the wise are taken in
their own craftiness, and their counsel is carried headlong:
and consulted against thy hidden ones;
not hidden from the Lord, and unknown unto him, though from their
enemies, and unknown by them, and so the object of their hatred
and persecution; but hidden by him as his jewels and peculiar
treasure, which he takes care of; hidden under the shadow of his
wings, in the secret of his presence and tabernacle, as in a
pavilion; and therefore it was a daring piece of insolence in
their enemies to attack them: so the life of saints is said to be
hid with Christ in God, which denotes both its secrecy and
safety; see ( Colossians
3:3 ) , the Targum is,
``against the things hidden in thy treasures;''meaning the riches of the temple.