Psalms 78:47

47 And he killed the vines of them with hail; and the (syca)more trees of them with frost. (And he killed their vines with hail; and their sycamore trees with frost.)

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 a flesh fly into them, and it ate them; and he sent a paddock, and it lost them. (He sent swarms of flies into them, and they bit them all over; and he sent frogs among them, and they ruined their land.)
46 And he gave the fruits of them to rust; and he gave the travails of them to locusts. (And he gave their crops over to mildew; and he gave the produce from their labour over to locusts.)
47 And he killed the vines of them with hail; and the (syca)more trees of them with frost. (And he killed their vines with hail; and their sycamore trees with frost.)
48 And he betook the beasts of them (un)to hail; and the possession(s) of them (un)to fire.
49 He sent into them the ire of his indignation; indignation, and ire, and tribulation, sendings-in by evil angels. (He sent into them the anger of his indignation; yea, his indignation, and anger, and trouble, by sending in evil angels among them.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.