Study

17. His name shall endure for ever The inspired writer again repeats what he had previously affirmed concerning the perpetual duration of this kingdom. And he doubtless intended carefully to distinguish it from earthly kingdoms, which either suddenly vanish away, or at length, oppressed with their own greatness, fall into ruin, affording by their destruction incontestible evidence that nothing in this world is stable and of long duration. When he says that his name shall endure for ever, it is not to be understood as merely implying that his fame should survive his death, as worldly men are ambitious that their name may not be buried with their body. He is rather speaking of the kingdom when he says that the name of this prince will continue illustrious and glorious for ever. Some explain the words לפני-שמש, liphney-shemesh, which we have rendered, in the presence of the sun, as if he meant that the glory with which God would invest the kings of Judah would surpass the brightness of the sun; but this is at variance with the context, for he had said above, (verse 5th,) in the same sense, with the sun, and in the presence of the moon.

After having, therefore, made mention of the everlasting duration of the name of this king, he subjoins, by way of explanation, his name shall be continued in the presence of the sun Literally it is, his name shall have children, ¹⁴⁵¹⁴⁵     “Filiabitur nomen ejus.” — Henry In the margin of our English Bibles it is, “He shall be as a son to continue his father’s name.” Bishop Patrick, therefore, paraphrases it, “His memory and fame shall never die, but be propagated from father to son, so long as the sun shall shine.” Rosenmüller reads, “Sobolescet nomen ejus, ‘his name shall increase,’ that is, shall be continued as long as the sun endureth; the government shall continue to his posterity in perpetual succession.” “The verb נון, nun,” he adds, “which occurs only in this passage, is explained from the noun נין, nin, Genesis 21:23; Job 18:19; Isaiah 14:22. In these passages the word has obviously the meaning of offspring, and by the Chaldee interpreters, it is constantly rendered by the word בר, bar, falius, ‘a son.’ It may, therefore, be assumed with certainty, that the verb נון, nun, signifies sobolem procreare, ‘to procreate descendants.’ It may, however, be added, that the Alexandrine has here διαμενεῖ, a rendering in which both the Vulgate and Jerome concur: ‘perseverabit nomen ejus,’ ‘his name shall endure.” Dathe takes this last mentioned view. He supposes, that instead of ינון, yinnon, we should read יכון, yikon, stabilietur, — permanebit; “shall be established, — shall continue.” “The verb נון, nun,” says he, “is not met with either in the Hebrew or in the cognate tongues, and is explained, — merely by conjecture, — augescere — sobolescere, — ‘to increase or multiply,’ because, as a noun in some of the dialects, it signifies a fish In the Septuagint the word is rendered διαμενεῖ; in the Vulgate and by Jerome, perseverabit; in the Chaldee, praeparatum est; in the Syriac, existet nomen ejus All these, without doubt, read יכון, yikon, ‘prepared, — established, — fixed,’ — the word which we find in the parallel passage, Psalm 89:38. The letters כ, caph, and נ, nun, it is evident, may very easily be interchanged from their similarity in form.” (for the Hebrew verb is derived from the noun for son,) that is to say, it shall be perpetuated from father to son; ¹⁴⁶¹⁴⁶     “(Car c’est un verbe en la langue Hebraique qui vient du nom de Fils,) c’est a dire, sera perpetue de pere en fils.” — Fr. and as the sun rises daily to enlighten the world, so shall the strength of this king be continually renewed, and thus will continue from age to age for ever. In like manner, we shall afterwards see that the sun and the moon are called witnesses of the same eternity, (Psalm 89:38.) Whence it follows that this cannot be understood of the earthly kingdom, which flourished only for a short time in the house of David, and not only lost its vigor in the third successor, but was at length ignominiously extinguished. It properly applies to the kingdom of Christ; and although that kingdom often totters upon the earth when assailed with the furious hatred of the whole world, and battered by the most formidable engines of Satan, it is yet wonderfully upheld and sustained by God, that it may not altogether fail. The words which follow, All nations shall bless themselves in him, admit of a twofold meaning. The Hebrews often use this form of expression when the name of any man is used as an example or formula of prayer for blessings. For instance, a man blesses himself in David, who beseeches God to be as favorable and bountiful to him as he proved himself to be towards David. On the other hand, he is said to curse in Sodom and Gomorrah who employs the names of these cities by which to pronounce some curse. If, then, these two expressions, they shall bless themselves in him, and they shall call him blessed, are used in the same sense; the expression, to bless themselves in the king, will just mean to pray that the same prosperity may be conferred upon us which was conferred upon this highly favored king, whose happy condition will excite universal admiration. But if it is considered preferable to distinguish between these two expressions, (which is not less probable,) to bless one’s self in the king, will denote to seek happiness from him; for the nations will be convinced that nothing is more desirable than to receive from him laws and ordinances.

18. Blessed be Jehovah God! the God of Israel. ¹⁴⁷¹⁴⁷     This psalm concludes the second book of the Psalms, and this and the following verse are a doxology similar to that with which the first book and the other three are concluded. See volume 2, p. 126, note. David, after having prayed for prosperity to his successors, breaks forth in praising God, because he was assured by the divine oracle that his prayers would not be in vain. Had he not with the eyes of faith beheld those things which we have seen above, his rejoicing would have been less free and lively. When he says that God alone doeth wonderful things, this, no doubt, is spoken in reference to the subject of which he is presently treating, with the view not only of commending the excellence of the kingdom, but also to admonish himself and others of the need which there is that God should display his wonderful and stupendous power for its preservation. And certainly it was not owing to any of David’s successors, a few excepted, that the royal throne did not fall a hundred times, yea, was not even completely ruined. To go no farther, was not Solomon’s most disgraceful apostasy deserving of utter destruction? And as to the rest of his successors, with the exception of Josias, Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat, and a few others, did they not fall from evil to worse, as if each strove to outstrip his predecessor, and thus so provoked the wrath of God, as it were deliberately, that it is wonderful that he did not immediately launch the thunderbolts of his vengeance upon the whole race utterly to destroy them? Moreover, as David, being endued with the Spirit of prophecy, was not ignorant that Satan would always continue to be a cruel enemy of the Church’s welfare, he doubtless knew that the grace of God, of which he presently speaks, would have great and arduous difficulties to overcome in order to continue for ever in his own nation. And the event afterwards unquestionably showed by how many miracles God accomplished his promises, whether we consider the return of his people from the captivity of Babylon, or the astonishing deliverances which followed until Christ as a tender branch sprung out of a dead tree. David, therefore, with good reason prays that the glory of the divine name may fill the whole earth, since that kingdom was to be extended even to the uttermost boundaries of the globe, And that all the godly, with earnest and ardent affection of heart, may unite with him in the same prayers, there is added a confirmation in the words, Amen, and Amen