Their infirmities were multiplied: afterwards they made haste. I will not gather together their meetings for blood offerings: nor will I be mindful of their names by my lips.

“"Their infirmities have been multiplied" [Psalm 16:4]: their infirmities have been multiplied not for their destruction, but that they might long for the Physician. "Afterwards they made haste." Accordingly after infirmities multiplied they made haste, that they might be healed. "I will not gather together their assemblies by blood." For their assemblies shall not be carnal, nor will I gather them together as one propitiated by the blood of cattle. [Isaiah 1:11-12] "Nor will I be mindful of their names within My lips." But by a spiritual change what they have been shall be forgotten; nor by Me shall they be any more called either sinners, or enemies, or men; but righteous, and My brethren, and sons of God through My peace.”

“May the sorrows...increase All this you should say to the Lord, “May the sorrows of those who do not believe in You increase,” viz. those who hasten and scurry to idolatry. Another explanation: מהרו is an expression of מֹהַר, dowry, douaire in French. I will not pour their libations of blood I will not be like them, to sprinkle blood for pagan deities, neither will I take up the name of pagan deities upon my lips.”

“Their sorrows shall be multiplied which after another hasten: – viz. away from them (the holy and excellent) – the men, that is, who hasten to another god. This form, מהרו, is the only instance of its use in the Kal in the sense of “hastening”; but there is the possibility that it is used in the sense of dowry (מהר) and gift (Gen. 34:12); and as “a dowry shall he pay him for her” (ימהרנה מהר, Exod. 22:15). Or the sense in which מהרו אחר is to be taken is: I shall cleave to the holy and excellent ones and the sorrows of the men shall multiply – the sorrows, that is, of those who hasten to other men to walk in other ways which are not the ways of the Lord; and this is the correct interpretation. Their drink-offerings of blood will I not pour out: – Far be it from me that I should pour out their drink-offerings which are of blood. (It is to be taken) on the analogy of “and ye have brought (that which was taken by) violence” (Mal. 1:13); as though meaning their drink-offerings are not wine, but blood; for burnt-offerings and drink-offerings with wicked works neither profit nor deliver, but harm, as it says: “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination” (Prov. 21:27). Nor take their names upon my lips: – And even the names of these men I will not bring up upon my lips.”

“In the preceding Psalm he enumerated the just deeds which God requires of man; but here he shows how he followed after justice. The title is this: "The inscription of the title itself, of David." And as to the letter it signifies that it was composed specially concerning those things which pertain to the person of David. But because David also bore the person of Christ, who was to be born from his seed, therefore some things here are set down concerning David, and some concerning Christ. And thus Peter, in Acts 2: "I foresaw the Lord," etc., says that this is properly said of the resurrection of Christ, and not of David. And according to this, this Psalm touches upon the history of the New Testament, according to what is said in John 18, that when Christ was crucified Pilate placed a title over his head, "This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews"; and this is, as it were, the title of his kingdom. A threefold title was customarily inscribed. Sometimes on someone's tomb: "This is the tomb of so-and-so." Sometimes on a house: "This is the house of so-and-so." Sometimes for a triumph, as was done at Rome: and this is the title of Christ, who triumphed through the cross: Colossians 2: "Triumphing over them openly in himself, despoiling the principalities and powers." It is signified here, therefore, that in this Psalm it deals specially with the kingdom of Christ. Jerome's title is this: "A Psalm of David, humble and simple." And it is signified that in that Psalm there is treated the simplicity and humility of David, whether taken singly, or as a figure, namely of Christ. This Psalm, therefore, is divided into two parts. In the first, speaking either on his own part or on the part of Christ, he shows that he clings to God alone. Secondly, he recalls the benefits which he has received from God, at the words, "I will bless the Lord, who," etc. The first pertains to simplicity, the second to humility. Concerning the first, he does two things. First, he shows that he clings to God alone. Secondly, he assigns the reason, at the words, "The Lord is my portion," etc. Concerning the first, he does three things. First, he shows how he stands toward God. Secondly, how he stands toward the saints of God. Thirdly, how he stands toward the enemies of God. The second, at the word "to the saints." The third, at the word "multiplied," etc. Toward God he stands as one clinging to him alone: and this in two ways: through hope and through faith, at the words, "I have said to the Lord." Concerning the first he sets forth two things: namely the sign of hope, and hope itself. The sign of hope, at the words, "Preserve me, O Lord": as if to say, I do not trust that I can be saved by myself, but do you, O Lord, preserve me — either in himself, or in his members: John 17: "Father, keep in thy name those whom thou hast given me." And this, "because I have hoped in thee." But did Christ hope? It must be said that he did: he hoped indeed for eternal life on behalf of others, but for himself the glory of the body. But he had the glory of the soul from the very instant of his conception. "I have said," etc. Here he first sets down the act of faith. Secondly he assigns the reason, at the words, "because of my goods," etc. The act of faith is to confess to God, whether by believing in the heart, or by praising outwardly, or by approving in deeds: Romans 10: "With the heart we believe unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation"; and therefore, "I have said" — in heart, in mouth, and in deed — "thou art my God": Genesis 28: "The Lord shall be my God." And this is so, "because thou hast no need of my goods." And this is proper to God: because he is of infinite goodness, and nothing can be added to him, since he is a substantial good extending goodness to all things, as the sun extends its light — illuminating all things not by participation, but through his very being. But to any other creature whatsoever something can be added, even to the saints, and for this reason something accrues to them, and therefore in some way they stand in need of us: but God alone does not need our goods: Job 33: "Moreover, if thou do justly, what shalt thou give him, or what shall he receive of thy hand?" Jerome has: "because it is not well with us without thee": as if to say, from this it appears that thou art my God, because thou art goodness, and it is not well with me without thee. "To the saints." Here he shows how he stands toward the saints, also as read from the person of Christ. And it must be known that the will of the Father is as the will of Christ, even insofar as he is man, so that he might fulfill the will of the Father: Psalm 39: "That I might do thy will, O my God, I have desired"; 1 Thessalonians 4: "This is the will of God, your sanctification"; John 6: "I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me, the Father, that of all that he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again in the last day." But Christ willed many things: and this for our benefit. But what did he will? To suffer, to die, to rise again, that he might bring us to life. He says, therefore: God the Father has made wonderful all my desires — that is, has wonderfully fulfilled them — "in them." In whom? "In them," that is, in his saints who are in his land, that is, in the Church militant and triumphant. Jerome has it thus: "To the saints who are in the land, and to the excellent, is all my will directed." Another reading has "the mighty." And granted that some earthly man trusts in the power of a mighty army, yet David says, I have hoped in thee: Ecclesiasticus 2: "No one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded." And my mighty ones are thy saints, who do great things: Psalm 100: "My eyes are toward the faithful," says Christ, "that they may sit with me." That Christ himself loves the saints is clear: Proverbs 8: "I love them that love me." "Multiplied." Here he shows how he stands toward the adversaries of God, or toward sinners. And first he sets down their conversion; secondly, the manner of their conversion, at the words, "I will not gather together." Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth the state of their preceding guilt; secondly he sets down the state of the grace that follows, at the words, "afterwards they made haste." He says, therefore, "their infirmities are multiplied" — that is, their various sins. Or "infirmities," that is, the penalties following from sin. Lamentations 1: "Many are my groanings." And from this follows, "afterwards they made haste" — that is, they strove to amend their life, so as to redeem the time lost. And they do this fittingly, because "where sin abounded, grace did more abound," as is said in Romans 5. Likewise, after tribulations a man runs to God. Hosea 6: "In their affliction they will rise early to me: Come, and let us return to the Lord." Psalm 82: "Fill their faces with shame, and they shall seek thy name, O Lord." "Not." Here he sets down the manner of their conversion. And first he shows to what rite they are converted; secondly, how perfectly, at the words, "nor will I be mindful," etc. He says, therefore, "they made haste." But how are they to be converted? In the old law, those who were converted used to offer various sacrifices. But I will gather them together from diverse parts unto the faith; but not so that they should shed blood: because, as the Apostle says in Hebrews 10, "it is impossible that sins should be taken away by the blood of bulls and goats." "I will not gather together their meetings for blood offerings," that is, from the rite of the law: but this gathering is by the new blood, that is, of Christ. Hebrews 9: "Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins of many." Hebrews 10: "By one oblation he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified," etc. Zechariah 9: "Thou also, by the blood of thy testament, hast sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water," etc. But how will this gathering be perfect? Because "I will not be mindful of their names," which they had in the state of sin — for one was called a fornicator, another a thief. But no one, after conversion, ought to be so named, because names of this kind are blotted out. Or, I will not be mindful of their sins in judgment, when I gather together the just: "Come, ye blessed," Matthew 25. And this "through my lips," or through my preachers. But to them it will be said, "Depart, ye cursed," etc. Jeremiah 15: "If thou separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth." Jerome has: "Their idols are multiplied: I will not pour out their libations of blood after those who follow behind; neither will I take up their names upon my lips"; as if to say, I worship thee, not idols. But their idols are many. Hosea 8: "I have multiplied those departing from thee behind thy back." Jeremiah 2: "They have turned their back and their face to me"; nor will I be a partaker of their libations. Deuteronomy 33: "Of whose victims they ate the fat, and drank the wine of the libations." Nor will I swear by those idols. "The Lord." Here he assigns the reason for his clinging to God alone, namely that God alone is his inheritance; as if to say: I cling to this one alone for this reason, that this is my inheritance. First he says that God is his inheritance. Secondly he commends it, in that he is content with it, at the words, "for indeed my inheritance," etc. This itself is our good, which we enjoy: men in this world seek possessions and the use of them, but his possession is God; hence, "the Lord is the portion of my inheritance," taken intransitively — that is, the inheritance that comes to me as my portion. Some have, for an inheritance, the delights of the flesh. Wisdom 2: "This is our portion, and this our lot." But others have other delightful things of the world; but God is my lot. Lamentations 3: "The Lord is my portion, said my soul." But he is not only my inheritance, but also "the portion of my cup" — that is, my cup that comes to me as my lot; for God is my whole delight and drink. Psalm 22: "My inebriating cup, how goodly it is!" Or, Christ has the faithful as his inheritance; and of this inheritance, namely of the faithful, God is the portion, as has been said, "the Lord is the portion of my cup," because my passion is ordered to God. He himself is also the giver of this inheritance: "Thou art he who wilt restore my inheritance to me" — namely, of eternal glory. And thus Christ speaks in the person of his own people, who lost it when the first parent sinned. Or, "inheritance," that is, the glory of the body, which man lost by sinning. "The lines have been stretched out for me in goodly places." The rich measure land with a cord. Deuteronomy 32: "Jacob is the cord of his inheritance." And therefore "portion" is said as it were "a small cord" of rope — that is, my portion falls to me among the best things, since nothing is better than God himself. Jeremiah 3: "I will give thee a desirable land, a goodly inheritance." Secondly he shows that he is content with it: "for indeed my inheritance is goodly to me"; as if to say: not only is my inheritance goodly in itself, but it is so goodly to me that I would in no way exchange it. Psalm 131: "This is my rest for ever and ever: here will I dwell, for I have chosen it." "I will bless." Above, the Psalmist set down the reason why he clings to God alone, namely that God himself is the portion of his inheritance; here he acknowledges the benefits received. And first he sets forth the benefits already received; secondly, those to be hoped for, at the words, "moreover my flesh also," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he recalls the benefits received; secondly he shows the joy which he has from them, at the words, "therefore my heart hath been glad." He recalls, therefore, a twofold benefit: one in the attaining of good, the other in being preserved against evils. As to the first he says, "I will bless the Lord," etc., so that I may understand how goodly is that eternal inheritance. Psalm 118: "Give me understanding, and I will search," etc. Psalm 31: "I will give thee understanding, and I will instruct thee." Ecclesiasticus, last chapter: "To him that giveth me wisdom will I give glory." But the Lord gave man reason unto wisdom, yet he did not entirely take away infirmity; but this will be in glory. And first he sets forth it; secondly he sets down the help against it, at the words, "I foresaw the Lord." Every man has from God, according to reason, the light of the intellect, and the just man is reformed by the light of grace. But still the infirmity of the flesh remains; and therefore he says, "moreover my reins also have corrected me" — that is, my infirmities, namely of guilt, or sins. And this, "even unto night" — that is, even unto death — "my reins have corrected me," that is, have shown me to be reprehensible. Another reading has it that, because in the reins the incitement of lust has its seat, it thus troubles by tempting to delight. 2 Corinthians 12: "Lest the greatness of the revelations," etc. But in Christ there are no infirmities of guilt, or of corruption, because his flesh does not war against the spirit; and therefore it is understood only of penalty. Hebrews 4: "Tempted in all things" — as to bodily infirmities. But if it be understood of us, it must be said that man, who has the gift of understanding, or grace, may still say with the Apostle, Romans 7: "I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind." Or "reins," that is, the Jews joined to him, "even unto night," that is, even unto the passion, or even unto the passibility of the flesh. And because the flesh feared the passion, I, in that passion, "foresaw the Lord," with eyes lifted up to heaven, not to the world. Providence is the foreseeing of things to be done in the future; but vision or sight is of things present. But if such reins still assail, there is no need to fear, because he has the help of God ready. And therefore he first sets down the remembrance of help, saying, "I foresaw the Lord," etc., namely when "my reins corrected me." Psalm 24: "My eyes are ever towards the Lord: for," etc. And this for the reason that "he is at my right hand, that I be not moved" — not at the left. Proverbs 3: "The Lord shall be at thy side, and shall keep thy foot, that thou be not taken." Isaiah 50: "Let us stand together," etc. "For this my heart hath been glad." 1 Kings 2: "My heart hath rejoiced in the Lord." Psalm 63: "The just shall rejoice in the Lord," etc. And "my tongue hath rejoiced," etc., outwardly, when with outward joy he bursts forth into vocal praise. Isaiah 12: "Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath done great things." Psalm 80: "Rejoice to God," etc. "Moreover." Here he enumerates the benefits to be hoped for. First as to the resurrection of the flesh; secondly as to the soul, at the words, "thou hast made known." The first into two. First he sets down the hope of the resurrection; secondly the manner, at the words, "because thou wilt not leave." He says, therefore: thou hast given me understanding, and hast stood by me as man, but "moreover my flesh also shall rest in hope" — of the resurrection. Psalm 3: "I have slept, and have taken my rest, and I have risen up." And my flesh, too, shall have hope in the resurrection. Wisdom 3: "Their hope is full of immortality." The reason is that resurrection requires the union of body and soul; and therefore the soul joined to the divinity ought not to remain in Hell; but it had to remain there only so long until the truth of his humanity, and of his true flesh, should be proved; nor was it fitting that he be left any longer in Hell, where he had descended to free the saints. Ecclesiasticus 24: "I will penetrate to all the lower parts of the earth, and will behold all that sleep, and will enlighten all," etc. Likewise on the part of the body, because "nor wilt thou give thy holy one" — that is, my body sanctified by thee — "to see corruption" — that is, of putrefaction, or of dissolution, which he did not suffer; but he did suffer the corruption of death. He recalls the benefits which pertain to the soul, when he says, "thou hast made known." This is referred to Christ on behalf of his members, and these are the teachings and precepts, which are the way unto beatitude. Proverbs 7: "Keep my commandments, and thou shalt live"; and therefore he says, "Thou hast made known to me the ways of life." Secondly he recalls the benefit; where he says three things. First, the full vision of God: "thou shalt fill me with joy with thy countenance" — that is, I shall see thy countenance. 2 Corinthians 13: "Now I know in part" — that is, imperfectly — "then shall I know face to face." Full joy: John 16: "that your joy may be full": because the delights are unfailing, because "at thy right hand" even "unto the end." Isaiah 51: "Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." Proverbs 3: "Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and glory."”

“Their sorrows shall be multiplied,.... Not the sorrows of the saints and excellent ones, by seeing the idolatry of men, as Aben Ezra interprets it; but the sorrows of such that hasten after another god; a false god, an idol, to serve and worship it; for, generally speaking, idolaters are more forward, eager, and hasty to attend a false worship, than the worshippers of the true God are to attend his service: now their sorrows are many, even in their worship, by cutting their bodies with knives and lancets, as the worshippers of Baal did; and by sacrificing their own children, which, notwithstanding their rash and precipitate zeal, could not fail of giving them pain and uneasiness; and, besides temporal punishments inflicted on them for their idolatry by God, and stings of conscience, which must sometimes attend them, the wrath of God lies upon them, and they will have their portion in the lake of fire, and the smoke of their torment will ascend for ever and ever. Some render the words, "their idols are multiplied"; and so the Chaldee paraphrase, "they multiply their idols, and after that hasten to offer their sacrifices;'' when men leave the true God, they know not where to stop; the Heathens had not less than thirty thousand gods, and the Jews when they fell into idolatry ran in the same way, Jer 2:28. The word "god" is not in the original text, though the supplement is countenanced by the Jewish writers (p), who interpret it in this way; but I rather think the text is to be understood not of Heathen idolaters, but of unbelieving Jews, who, rejecting the true Messiah, hasten after another Messiah, king, and saviour; when Jesus the true Messiah came they received him not; but when another came in his own name they were eager to embrace him, Joh 5:43; and to this day they are hastening after another; and in their daily prayers pray that the coming of the Messiah might be "in haste", in their days (q); and the sense of the passage is, that the sorrows of the Jews, rejecting the Messiah and hastening after another, would come thick and fast upon them, until wrath came upon them to the uttermost, Mat 24:6, Th1 2:16; and it holds good of all, whether Jews or Gentiles, that hasten after another saviour; that say to the works of their hands, that they are their gods, or go about to establish a righteousness of their own, or seek for life and salvation by their own doings; these, sooner or later, will lie down in sorrow, Isa 50:11; their drink offerings of blood will I not offer: meaning not the libations of the Gentiles, which were not wine, according to the law, Num 15:10; but blood, even sometimes human blood; but the sacrifices of the Jews, which were either got by blood, murders and robberies, and on that account were hateful to God, Isa 61:8; or rather the sacrifices of bloodthirsty persons, whose hands were full of blood, Isa 1:11; and such were the offerings of the priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, in Christ's time, who were the children of them that killed the prophets, and sought after the blood of Christ. Or it may be rendered, "I will not offer their drink offerings because of blood" (r); meaning his own blood shed for the remission of sins, which being obtained, there remains no more offering for sin; and so the words may express the abolition of all legal sacrifices, and the causing of them to cease through the blood and sacrifice of Christ. This shows the person speaking to be a priest, and therefore could not be David, but must be the Messiah, who is a priest after the order of Melchizedek; and who had a better sacrifice to other up than any of the offerings of the Jews, even his own self, by which he has put away sin for ever. He adds, nor take up their names into my lips; not the names of idol deities, nor of their worshippers, but of the Jews that rejected him as the Messiah, for whom he would not pray, Joh 17:9; and so as he refused to offer their sacrifices, he would not perform the other part of his priestly office for them in intercession; though this may also have respect to the rejection of the Jewish nation as the people of God; writing a "Loammi", Hos 1:9, upon them, declaring them to be no longer the children of the living God; leaving their names for a curse, a taunt, and a proverb in every place; expressing the utmost abhorrence of them, and showing the utmost indignation at them, as persons whose names were not worthy or fit to be mentioned, Eph 5:3. (p) Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Ben Melech, & Abendana in loc. (q) Seder Tephillot, fol. 128. 2. (r) "propter sanguinem", Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis.”

“Haste. Men who are convinced of their own infirmities, hasten to find a remedy. (Worthington) — No sooner had fallen man been redeemed, that he strove to advance in the ways of perfection. (Berthier) — The sins, to which the saints sometimes yield, tend to make them more cautious (Calmet) and grateful to their deliverer, like St. Peter. Persecutions likewise cause them to cling closer to God, and fill them with interior joy, Acts v. 41. (Haydock) — If we explain it of the wicked, chastisement often makes them repent, Psalm lxxvii. 34. (Calmet) — “Their idols have been multiplied after their followers, I will not join in their libations of blood.” (St. Jerome) — David was continually exposed to such temptations, among the idolaters; but out of contempt, he would not even pronounce the name of the idols. (Calmet) — Blood, or bloody. (Du Hamel) — The pagan (Worthington) and Mosaic sacrifices shall cease. Christ will unite us (Berthier) by a more excellent oblation of his own body and blood. (Haydock) — Christians shall be distinguished by a fresh appellation, being styled children of light and of God, in opposition to the sons of men, (St. Augustine, &c.; Calmet) and pagans.”

“He expresses his abhorrence of those who seek other sources of happiness or objects of worship, and, by characterizing their rites by drink offerings of blood, clearly denotes idolaters. The word for "sorrows" is by some rendered "idols"; but, though a similar word to that for idols, it is not the same. In selecting such a term, there may be an allusion, by the author, to the sorrows produced by idolatrous practices.”

“As he loves the saints so, on the other hand, he abhors the apostates and their idols. אהר מהרוּ is to be construed as an appositional relative clause to the preceding: multi sunt cruciatus (cf. Psa 32:10) eorum, eorum scil. qui alium permutant. The expression would flow on more smoothly if it were ירבּוּ: they multiply, or increase their pains, who..., so that אחר מהרו would be the subject, for instance like אהבו ה (he whom Jahve loves), Isa 48:14. This Psa 16:4 forms a perfect antithesis to Psa 16:3. In David's eyes the saints are already the glorified, in whom his delight centres; while, as he knows, a future full of anguish is in store for the idolatrous, and their worship, yea, their very names are an abomination to him. The suffixes of נסכּיהם and שׁמותם might be referred to the idols according to Exo 23:13; Hos 2:19, if אהר be taken collectively as equivalent to אחר ם, as in Job 8:19. But it is more natural to assign the same reference to them as to the suffix of עצּבותם, which does not signify "their idols" (for idols are עצבּים), but their torments, pains (from עצּבת derived from עצּב), Psa 147:3; Job 9:28. The thought is similar to Ti1 6:10, ἑαυτοὺς περιέπειραν ὀδύναις ποικίλαις. אהר is a general designation of the broadest kind for everything that is not God, but which man makes his idol beside God and in opposition to God (cf. Isa 42:8; Isa 48:11). מהרוּ cannot mean festinant, for in this signification it is only found in Piel מהר, and that once with a local, but not a personal, accusative of the direction, Nah 2:6. It is therefore to be rendered (and the perf. is also better adapted to this meaning): they have taken in exchange that which is not God (מהר like המיר, Psa 106:20; Jer 2:11). Perhaps (cf. the phrase זנה אהרי) the secondary meaning of wooing and fondling is connected with it; for מהר is the proper word for acquiring a wife by paying down the price asked by her father, Exo 22:15. With such persons, who may seem to be אדּירים in the eyes of the world, but for whom a future full of anguish is in store, David has nothing whatever to do: he will not pour out drink-offerings as they pour them out. נסכּיהם has the Dag. lene, as it always has. They are not called מדּם as actually consisting of blood, or of wine actually mingled with blood; but consisting as it were of blood, because they are offered with blood-stained hands and blood-guilty consciences. מן is the min of derivation; in this instance (as in Amo 4:5, cf. Hos 6:8) of the material, and is used in other instances also for similar virtually adjectival expressions. Psa 10:18; Psa 17:14; Psa 80:14. In Psa 16:4 the expression of his abhorrence attains its climax: even their names, i.e., the names of their false gods, which they call out, he shuns taking upon his lips, just as is actually forbidden in the Tra, Exo 23:13 (cf. Const. Apost. V. 10 εἴδωλον μνημονεύειν ὀνόματα δαιμονικά).; He takes the side of Jahve. Whatever he may wish for, he possesses in Him; and whatever he has in Him, is always secured to him by Him. חלקי does not here mean food (Bttch.), for in this sense חלק (Lev 6:10) and מגה (Sa1 1:4) are identical; and parallel passages like Psa 142:6 show what חלקי means when applied to Jahve. According to Psa 11:6, כוסי is also a genitive just like חלקי; מנת חלק is the share of landed property assigned to any one; מנת כּוס the share of the cup according to paternal apportionment. The tribe of Levi received no territory in the distribution of the country, from which they might have maintained themselves; Jahve was to be their חלק, Num 18:20, and the gifts consecrated to Jahve were to be their food, Deu 10:9; Deu 18:1. But nevertheless all Israel is βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα, Exo 19:6, towards which even קדושׁים and אדרים in Psa 16:3 pointed; so that, therefore, the very thing represented by the tribe of Levi in outward relation to the nation, holds good, in all its deep spiritual significance, of every believer. It is not anything earthly, visible, created, and material, that is allotted to him as his possession and his sustenance, but Jahve and Him only; but in Him is perfect contentment. In Psa 16:5, תּומיך, as it stands, looks at first sight as though it were the Hiph. of a verb ימך (ומך). But such a verb is not to be found anywhere else, we must therefore seek some other explanation of the word. It cannot be a substantive in the signification of possession (Maurer, Ewald), for such a substantival form does not exist. It might more readily be explained as a participle = תּומך, somewhat like יוסיף, Isa 29:4; Isa 38:5; Ecc 1:18, = יוסף, - a comparison which has been made by Aben-Ezra (Sefath Jether No. 421) and Kimchi (Michlol 11a), - a form of the participle to which, in writing at least, סוכיב, Kg2 8:21, forms a transition; but there is good reason to doubt the existence of such a form. Had the poet intended to use the part. of תמך, it is more probable he would have written אתה תּומכי גורלי, just as the lxx translators might have had it before them, taking the Chirek compaginis as a suffix: σὺ εἶ ὁ ἀποκαθιστῶν τὴν κληρονομίαν μου ἐμοί (Bttcher). For the conjecture of Olshausen and Thenius, תּוסיף in the sense: "thou art continually my portion" halts both in thought and expression. Hitzig's conjecture תּוּמּיך "thou, thy Tummm are my lot," is more successful and tempting. But the fact that the תּמּים are never found (not even in Deu 33:8) without the אוּרים, is against it. Nevertheless, we should prefer this conjecture to the other explanations, if the word would not admit of being explained as Hiph. from ימך (ומך), which is the most natural explanation. Schultens has compared the Arabic wamika, to be broad, from which there is a Hiphil form Arab. awmaka, to make broad, in Syro-Arabic, that is in use even in the present day among the common people. (Note: The Arabic Lexicographers are only acquainted with a noun wamka, breadth (amplitudo), but not with the verb. And even the noun does not belong to the universal and classical language. But at the present day Arab. 'l-wamk (pronounced wumk), breadth, and wamik are in common use in Damascus; and it is only the verb that is shunned in the better conversational style. - Wetzstein.) And since we must at any rate come down to the supposition of something unusual about this תומיך, it is surely not too bold to regard it as a ἅπαξ γεγραμμ.: Thou makest broad my lot, i.e., ensurest for me a spacious habitation, a broad place, as the possession that falleth to me, (Note: It is scarcely possible for two words to be more nearly identical than גּורל and κλῆρος. The latter, usually derived from κλάω (a piece broken off), is derived from κέλεσθαι (a determining of the divine will) in Dderlein's Homer. Glossar, iii. 124. But perhaps it is one word with גורל. Moreover κλῆρος signifies 1) the sign by which anything whatever falls to one among a number of persons in conformity with the decision of chance or of the divine will, a pebble, potsherd, or the like. So in Homer, Il. iii. 316, vii. 175, xxiii. 351, Od. x. 206, where casting lots is described with the expression κλῆρος. 2) The object that falls to any one by lot, patrimonium, e.g., Od. xiv. 64, Il. xv. 498, οἶκος καὶ κλῆρος, especially of lands. 3) an inheritance without the notion of the lot, and even without any thought of inheriting, absolutely: a settled, landed property. It is the regular expression for the allotments of land assigned to colonists (κληροῦχοι).) - a thought, that is expanded in Psa 16:6.”