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Benson Commentary Psalm 68:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David. Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. Psalm 68:1-3 . Let God arise, &c. — As God was in a peculiar manner present in the ark, and as his presence was the great security of the Israelitish nation from the dangers of the wilderness, and the power of their enemies, Moses addressed his prayer to him in these words whenever the ark was taken up for their several marches: see Numbers 10:35 . And in these same words the singers began, when, at the command of David, the Levites first took up the ark on their shoulders to carry it from the house of Obed-edom to Zion. There is, indeed, this little difference between the passage in Numbers and this of the Psalm, that the first word of the former in the Hebrew is in the imperative mood, ???? , kumah, Let God arise, whereas here the word is in the future tense, and is literally rendered, God shall, or will, arise. And, in like manner, all the clauses of this and the next two verses are expressed in the same tense, as if they were a prediction of what was to come; his enemies shall be scattered — those that hate him shall flee, &c. — God’s enemies, it must be observed, are also the enemies of his people, and they are therefore said to hate him, because they hate them, and because they hate his laws and government, and his holy image and nature; the carnal mind which is in them, being enmity against him, and not subject to his law, neither, indeed, can it be subject thereto. As smoke is driven away — Which, though it rises from the earth in black and tremendous clouds, is soon scattered and dispersed by the wind; so drive them away — Or, so they shall be driven away, shall be dispersed by a force which, notwithstanding their threatening aspect, they are utterly unable to resist. And as wax melteth before the fire — Which, though to appearance it be of a firm and solid consistence, yet, when brought to the fire, is soon dissolved, and makes no resistance; so let the wicked perish, &c. — And so they shall perish when the Lord is revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire. But let the righteous be glad, &c. — For God’s gracious appearance in their behalf, and for his settled presence with them. Psalm 68:2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. Psalm 68:3 But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. Psalm 68:4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. Psalm 68:4 . Sing unto God, &c. — “The prophet here exhorts the people of God to magnify with Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, the eternal and incommunicable name of Him who was, and is, and is to come; who, deriving being from none, gives it to all, and who, as Redeemer of his people, is exalted above the heavens, and all the powers therein, above the gods of the nations; is acknowledged and glorified by saints and angels; feared and trembled at by ungodly men and evil spirits.” — Horne. Extol him, &c. — Hebrew, cast up, or prepare the way, for him that rideth through the deserts, or, that did ride in the desert, namely, manifested his presence between the cherubim upon the mercy-seat of the ark, when it was carried through the wilderness; or marched along with it in the cloudy pillar. Or, that now rideth, as in the desert, that is, whose ark, with which he is present, is now carried from place to place, as it was in the desert. This construction is most agreeable to the common usage of the original words here employed, ??? , sollu, rendered extol, properly meaning, to cast up, or prepare a way; and ????? , gnaraboth, translated heavens, generally signifying the deserts, or plain fields. By his name Jah — Whereby he is known and distinguished from all false gods, Jah being, no doubt, an abbreviation of the name Jehovah, which the heathen pronounced Jao. And rejoice before him — Before the ark, with which he is present. Thus David is said to have danced before the Lord on this occasion. Psalm 68:5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. Psalm 68:5-6 . A father of the fatherless — He now proceeds to mention some of the reasons for which God is to be praised. Of these this is one, that he is the patron of such as are injured and oppressed, and have not power to help themselves; is God in his holy habitation — In his tabernacle, or rather, in heaven. Though he is in a peculiar manner present and dwells there, yet the eyes of his fatherly providence and care run to and fro through the earth, to observe and help his people when they are in distress. God setteth the solitary — Hebrew, ????? , jechidim, such as are left single and alone, and are destitute of help; in families — Hebrew, he causeth them to sit down in houses: he blesseth them with partners in life, and a posterity, and with the safe and comfortable enjoyment of the social blessings attending it. He bringeth out those which were bound, &c. — He setteth captives and prisoners at liberty, as he did the Israelites. But the rebellious — Those that rebel against God, as the Egyptians did; dwell in a dry land — Are deprived of all true comfort, and plagued with manifold calamities. This part of the Psalm, from Psalm 68:1 to Psalm 68:6 , inclusive, Dr. Chandler supposes to have been sung just as the Levites took up the ark on their shoulders: and certainly it was a proper exordium to this great solemnity: containing “a solemn acknowledgment of God, a devout prayer for the dispersion of his enemies, and an exhortation to his people to rejoice before him, and to celebrate his praises, who guided their forefathers in the desert; when he redeemed them from Egyptian bondage, avenged them of their enemies, enlarged them into families, enriched them with the spoils of Egypt, and condemned their oppressors to poverty, disgrace, and misery.” Psalm 68:6 God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land . Psalm 68:7 O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah: Psalm 68:7-8 . O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people — In the cloudy pillar, as their captain, leading them out of Egypt; the earth shook — Or, trembled, that is, either the inhabitants of those parts of the earth, according to Exodus 15:14 ; or the earth itself, through an earthquake, as a token of God’s dreadful presence, as seems to be intimated, Psalm 114:5-7 . The heavens also dropped — Dissolved into showers, as the consequence of those mighty thunders and lightnings, which also bespoke his presence, and of the thick cloud that covered the mount. Even Sinai itself, &c. — Shook, or dropped, for either verb may be supplied from the former clause, there being no verb in the Hebrew text of this clause. Sinai was even melted, or dissolved with fear. It is a poetical representation of the terribleness of God’s appearance. Dr. Chandler supposes that this part of the Psalm, from Psalm 68:7 to the 14th, was sung just as the procession began, and the Levites moved along with the ark, placed by its staves on their shoulders. Psalm 68:8 The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. Psalm 68:9 Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary. Psalm 68:9 . Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, &c. — Hebrew, ????? , ???? , geshem nedaboth, a rain of spontaneousness, or liberality. The Seventy render it, ?????? ???????? , a spontaneous, voluntary, or free rain. As we do not read of any showers of rain that fell during the continuance of the Israelites in the wilderness, except that before mentioned on Sinai, the people being supplied with water, partly from wells which they found, and partly by miracle from rocks, Dr. Chandler thinks the plentiful rain here mentioned “relates to the manna and the quails, which were rained down on them from heaven.” Thus God promised, I will rain bread from heaven for you, Exodus 16:4 ; and the psalmist observes, Psalm 68:23-24 ; Psalm 68:27 , He opened the doors of heaven, and rained down manna upon them to eat, and gave them of the corn of heaven. He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls as the sand of the sea. “This,” he thinks, “may truly be called a kind of spontaneous shower; as both the manna and the quails offered themselves to their hands without any pains or labour in the people to procure them. By this shower, says the sacred writer, thou didst confirm thine inheritance, (see Deuteronomy 32:9 ;) that is, didst recruit and refresh thy people; for they greatly needed it, as they were weary; that is, tired, and almost worn out with hunger, the hardships of which they bore with great impatience and murmuring.” There is, however, one great objection to this interpretation of the passage. It does not seem to comport with the next verse, which speaks of the congregation of Israel as dwelling in the inheritance refreshed by this rain, which inheritance was certainly the land of Canaan. In this they had dwelt for many ages when David wrote this Psalm, and though they had sometimes been chastised with drought, yet they had often witnessed the descent of abundant rains upon their country, which were the more necessary and desirable, because it was hilly and of a dry soil, and not watered, like Egypt, by the overflowings of a great river. See Deuteronomy 11:10-11 . Psalm 68:10 Thy congregation hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor. Psalm 68:10 . Thy congregation — Thy people Israel, who are all united in one body, under thee their head and governor. It is true, the word ??? , chajab, here rendered congregation, primarily signifies life, living creature, or animal, and is often put for beast, and wild beast; but, as the best lexicographers observe, it also frequently means cœtus, or caterva, a company or troop of men, as in Psalm 68:30 of this chapter, and 2 Samuel 23:13 , compared with 1 Chronicles 11:15 , and Psalm 74:19 . But, retaining the proper signification of the word, the clause may be rendered, as it is by the LXX., ?? ??? ??? , thy living creatures, or thy flock, that is, thy people, the sheep of thy pasture, hath dwelt therein, ????? ?? , jashebu bah, have dwelt in it, namely, in the inheritance mentioned in the preceding verse, to which the preposition, with the feminine affix, ?? , in it, can only properly refer. God often compares himself to a shepherd, and his people to sheep; and he is particularly said to have led his people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron, Psalm 77:20 , namely, in the wilderness; and consequently he may be here said to have brought his sheep into, and to have made them dwell in, Canaan, as in a green and good pasture; see Psalms 23., where God speaks of his people under this very metaphor. This interpretation, evidently adopted by our translators, seems much more easy and natural, and more agreeable to the Hebrew text, than that of Dr. Chandler and some others, who would render the word above mentioned, (which we translate thy flock, or thy congregation, ) thy food, or the support of thy life; and who thus interpret the clause: thy food, or, as to thy food, the food which thou, O God, gavest them, they dwelt in the midst of it: which is surely a very unnatural and forced exposition. Thou hast prepared of thy goodness, &c. — Dr. Chandler, in consistency with his above-mentioned interpretation of the preceding clause, understands this of the provision made miraculously by God for his people in the wilderness: but, according to our translation, it speaks of the provision made for them in Canaan; the good land which God prepared for his people, by expelling the old inhabitants, sending frequently refreshing and fertilizing rains upon it, making it fruitful by his special blessing, and furnishing it with all sorts of provisions: and all this of his goodness, that is, by his free, unmerited, and singular goodness: and that both as to the cause and measure of this preparation. God did it; not for their righteousness, as he often told them, but of his mere mercy; and he increased the fruits of the earth very wonderfully, that they might be sufficient for the supply of such a numerous people, which, without his extraordinary blessing, would not have been the case, as appears by the state of that land at this day, which is well known to be very barren. For the poor — Thy people of Israel, whom he calls poor, partly to repress that pride and arrogance to which they were exceedingly prone, and to remind them of their entire dependance on God for all they had or hoped for; and partly because they really were poor when God undertook the conduct of them into Canaan, and such they would have been still if God had not provided for them in a singular manner. Psalm 68:11 The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it . Psalm 68:11 . The Lord gave the word — The matter of the word, or discourse here following. He put this triumphal song into the mouths of his people; he gave them those successes and victories which are here celebrated. Or he gave the matter or thing which was published. Having celebrated the goodness of God, which fed them in, and led them through, the wilderness, conducted them into Canaan, watered and refreshed the land with plentiful showers, and rendered it fruitful, he now proceeds to speak of the great victories which God had given them over their enemies, and of the great deliverances he had wrought out for them. Great was the company of those that published it — The deliverances wrought out by God for his people were so glorious and wonderful, that all sorts of persons, women as well as men, that heard of them, broke forth into songs of praise to God for them. Indeed the Hebrew word ???????? , hambasseroth, here rendered, that published it, is in the feminine gender, and therefore refers chiefly to the women, who with songs and music celebrated the victories of the Israelites over their enemies, according to the custom of those times, Exodus 15:20 ; 1 Samuel 18:6 . So also in this procession, besides the singers and players on other instruments, we have the damsels playing with timbrels. The clause here, literally translated, is, Large was the number of women who published the glad tidings; which glad tidings are those contained in the next two verses. Psalm 68:12 Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil. Psalm 68:12 . Kings of armies — The kings of the Midianites, of Canaan, and other nations, which came forth against the Israelites with numerous and powerful armies; did flee apace — Hebrew, ????? ????? , jiddodun, jiddodun, fled away, fled away, the reduplication of this word denoting their hasty flight and utter dispersion. They fled with their routed forces, and were pursued, overtaken, and destroyed by the victorious Israelites. She that tarried at home divided the spoil — The spoil was so much that there was enough, not only for the proper use of those that took it, but also to be divided to their wives and children when they came home. After the conquest of the Midianites, God ordered the prey which was taken from them to be divided between them who went out on that expedition, and the rest of the people who continued in their tents, Numbers 31:27 ; and therefore this was part of the damsels’ song, that the women, who had charge of the household affairs, were enriched by an equal division of the enemies’ spoils, in which their husbands and fathers had their share; and perhaps it is the victory over the Midianites which is here referred to. Psalm 68:13 Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold. Psalm 68:13 . Though ye have lien among the pots — The word ?????? , shepattaim, here rendered pots, “signifies kettles, pots, or furnaces, for various uses, fixed in stone or brick, placed in double rows, and so regularly disposed for convenience and use; and refers to those pots, or furnaces, at which the Israelites in Egypt wrought as slaves, and among which they were forced to lie down for want of proper habitations, and in the most wretched and vile attire, Deuteronomy 4:26 ; Psalm 81:6 . But how great was the alteration by the conquest of their enemies, and especially of the Midianites! Enriched by the spoils of your enemies, ye shall now lie down, that is, dwell at ease and with elegance in your tents.” Ye shall be — Or, ye have been, which seems to be more suitable to the context, both preceding and following, in which he does not speak prophetically of things to come, but historically of things past. The sense of the verse then is, Though you have formerly been exposed to great servitude, reproach, and misery, namely, in Egypt; yet since that time God hath changed your condition greatly for the better. As the wings of a dove, &c. — Beautiful and glorious, like the feathers of a dove, which, according to the variety of its postures, and of the light shining upon it, look like silver or gold. He is thought to refer to the rich garments, or costly tents, which they took from the Midianites, and their other enemies, and which, either because of their various colours, or their being ornamented with silver and gold, resembled the colours of a dove, the feathers of whose wings or body glistered interchangeably, as with silver and gold: see Chandler and Bochart. Thus the church of Christ has frequently emerged from a slate of persecution and tribulation into one of liberty and comfort. “And such is the change made in the spiritual condition of any man, when he passes from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God: he is invested with the robe of righteousness, and adorned with the graces of the Spirit of holiness.” — Horne. But still, yea, incomparably greater will be the change of state and condition which all the true disciples of Christ shall experience when they shall completely put off the image of the earthly, with all its attendant infirmities, afflictions, and sufferings, and shall be fully invested with that of the heavenly, their very bodies being conformed to Christ’s glorious body. Then indeed shall all remains of their state of humiliation disappear: and they shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold: yea, they shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Psalm 68:14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon. Psalm 68:14 . When the Almighty scattered kings in it — In Canaan, at the coming of the Israelites thither; it was white as snow in Salmon — “The Almighty appeared most illustrious as Salmon,” says Bishop Patrick, that is, as mount Salmon covered with snow: “The land and nation,” says Mr. Samuel Clark, “were then in a very flourishing, joyful condition, and resplendent, by the establishment of God’s pure worship there.” Dr. Hammond explains and confirms this interpretation of the passage more at large, as follows: “The construction lies thus: ????? ???? ????? ?? , O God, by scattering kings there; or, when thou, O God Almighty, didst scatter kings in, or on it, ?? ????? , say the LXX., that is, on Salmon, ????? , tashleg, thou wast white as snow; or, thou didst snow, that is, thou didst there appear in the most shining, bright, propitious form; thy mercies made that place more beautiful than the crown of snow doth the head of that mountain, when it melts in fertile moisture on the neighbouring valleys.” “Salmon,” he adds, “was the name of a very high hill on this side Jordan, in the portion of the tribe of Ephraim, Jdg 9:40 , and consequently used to have snow lying long upon it.” Poole however thinks, with many other interpreters, both Hebrew and Christian, and the Chaldee among the rest, that the word Salmon ought to be taken here, not for a proper, but a common name, signifying darkness, or a shadow, and therefore proposes rendering the clause, It was snow-white, or, Thou madest it snow-white in darkness; or, Thou didst cause light to shine out of darkness: that is, at a time when the state of thy people, and the land of Canaan, which thou hadst given them, was dark and dismal, or bloody, by reason of the wars raised against them by the Canaanitish kings, thou didst quickly change it, and whereas it was red like scarlet, or crimson, thou madest it whiter than snow. Thus Buxtorf translates ????? ?????? , tashleg betsalmon, nivesces, thou didst snow, or albesces sicut nix, in caligine. Thou didst grow white in darkness. Henry understands it of the church of God that then was: “She was white as snow in Salmon, purified and refined by the mercies of God.” Chandler renders the clause, When the Almighty scattered kings therein, thou didst make them joyful in Salmon; or, There was great joy in Salmon. Dr. Horne who doubtless had consulted the commentators above quoted and many others on the passage, acquiesces in this interpretation, observing, “The purport of this difficult verse seems to be, that all was white as snow, that is, all was brightness, joy, and festivity about mount Salmon, when the Almighty, fighting for his people Israel, vanquished their enemies in or about that part of the country.” Psalm 68:15 The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan. Psalm 68:15 . The hill of God — That is, Zion, the seat of God’s ark; is as the hill of Bashan — Equal, yea, superior to it. Bashan was a rich and fruitful mountain beyond Jordan, called by the LXX. ???? ???? , a fat mountain, and ???? ??????????? , a mountain that yielded much butter and cheese. But Zion had greater advantages, and yielded much better fruits. A high hill as the hill of Bashan — Though it be but a low, mean hill, compared with Bashan, in outward appearance, yet it is as high as it, yea, is exalted far above it, through its spiritual privileges, being the place where God’s worship is established, where he is peculiarly present, and where he confers his choicest blessings; in which respect the mountain of the Lord’s house is said to be established on the top of the mountains, and exalted above the hills. Dr. Chandler supposes that this and the two following verses were begun to be sung when the ark came in view of mount Zion, the place of its fixed residence for the future, and probably when they began to ascend the hill. And he reads this, as well as the following verse, with an interrogation, conceiving that it makes them appear more suitable to the occasion, and worthy of the genuine spirit of poetry; thus: Is the hill of Bashan, is the craggy hill of Bashan the hill of God? As if he had said, Bashan may boast of its proud eminences, its craggy summits, but is this the hill where God will fix his residence? Psalm 68:16 Why leap ye, ye high hills? this is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the LORD will dwell in it for ever. Psalm 68:16 . Why leap ye, ye high hills — Why exult ye, or triumph, boasting of your height, and looking down upon poor Zion with scorn and contempt, as an obscure and inconsiderable hill, if compared with you? He speaks to the hills by a usual figure, called a prosopopœia. This is the hill, &c. — This hill, though despicable in your eyes, is precious and honourable in the eyes of God, and chosen by him for the place of his settled and perpetual residence. Dr. Chandler, however, gives a different sense to the word ?????? , teratsdun, here rendered, leap ye; and translates the whole verse thus: Why look ye with envy, ye craggy hills? This is the mountain God hath desired to dwell in; yea, the Lord will dwell there for ever. Thus he considers the psalmist as poetically introducing Bashan, and the other little hills, as looking with envy on mount Zion, that she, above all the other mountains, should be favoured with the residence of the eternal God, and become the fixed seat of his ark. He tacitly bids them cease their envy; and by pointing to mount Zion, says, “See! there is the hill which God hath chosen, above all others, to inhabit! Yea, the Lord will dwell there for ever. His ark shall never be removed from it to any other dwelling whatsoever.” For, though the ark was removed from that particular spot, in which it was now to be placed, to the hill of Moriah, upon which the temple was to be built; yet it must be remembered that Zion and Moriah stood near each other, being both in Jerusalem, and were, probably, but two tops of one and the same hill. Here, excepting the seventy years of the Babylonish captivity, during which time Jerusalem lay desolate, God would dwell “till the old dispensation should be at an end; till the glory of the Lord should be revealed in human nature; till God should be manifest in the flesh; and the true tabernacle and temple should succeed the typical. After that, the privileges of Zion were transferred to the Christian Church; she became, and, while the world lasts, will continue to be, the hill in which God delighteth to dwell; she will therefore be justly entitled to the pre-eminence over all that may seem to be great and glorious in the world.” — Horne. Psalm 68:17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place . Psalm 68:17 . The chariots of God are twenty thousand — Nor let the heathen boast of their hosts or armies, or of the multitude of their chariots, wherein chiefly their strength consists; for in Zion there are ten thousand times more, even innumerable hosts of angels, who attend upon God, to do his pleasure, and to fight for him and for his people. Twenty thousand here stands for an innumerable company, a certain number being put for an uncertain. The Lord is among them — And here is not only the presence of the angels, but of the great and blessed God himself; in Sinai as in the holy place — God is no less gloriously, though less terribly, present here than he was in Sinai, when, attended with thousands of his angels, he solemnly appeared there to deliver the law. Hebrew, ???? ????? , sinai bakodesh, literally, Sinai is in the sanctuary, or holy place, which is a poetical, and a very emphatical expression, and very pertinent to this place. For, having advanced Zion above all other hills, he now equals it to that venerable hill of Sinai, which the divine majesty honoured with his glorious presence. Here, says he, you have, in some sort, mount Sinai itself, namely, all the glories and privileges of it, the presence of Jehovah, attended with his angels, and the same law and covenant, yea, and a greater privilege than Sinai had, to wit, the Lord descending from heaven into a human body, as appears by his ascending thither again, which the next verse describes. For here the psalmist seems evidently to be transported by the prophetic spirit, from the narration of those external successes and victories, of which he had been speaking in the former part of the Psalm, unto the prediction of higher and more glorious things, even of the coming of the Messiah, and of the happy and transcendent privileges and blessings accruing to mankind thereby. And the connection of this new matter with the former is sufficiently apparent. For the preference of Zion to other places having been stated, Psalm 68:15-16 , he now proves its excellence by an invincible argument; it was the place to which the Lord of hosts himself, the Messiah, God manifest in the flesh, was to come; and, when he came, was to be attended by a multitude of angels, celebrating his birth, ministering to him in his temptation, attesting his resurrection, and accompanying him in his ascension. Psalm 68:18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them . Psalm 68:18 . Thou hast ascended on high — “When the ark had ascended mount Zion, and was deposited in the place assigned for it, the singers are supposed, by Dr. Chandler, to gave proceeded with this part of the Psalm, in which (he thinks) they celebrate the ascension of their God and king, by the symbol of his presence, to the heights of Zion, after having subdued their enemies, and enriched his people with the spoil of the vanquished, and the gifts of the tributary nations; of which much was probably employed in the service of the tabernacle, and afterward in building the temple, first designed by David, that the Lord God might dwell and have a fixed habitation among his people.” — Horne. But although David, in composing this Psalm for the occasion, as is supposed, of removing the ark, might probably, in this part of it, refer in some measure to the ascent of that symbol of the divine presence to the top of mount Zion; yet his expressions are evidently too strong and exalted to be confined to that transaction, or even to have been primarily intended of it. He certainly speaks principally of another and much more important event, typified, indeed, by that ascent of the ark, and the advantages resulting therefrom to the people, but far more glorious in itself, and producing effects of infinitely greater consequence, not only to the Jews, but to the whole human race. He speaks of the ascension of the Messiah into heaven, in consequence of his victory over his and our enemies, obtained by his death and resurrection. And, accordingly, as is well known, his words are so applied by the apostle to the Gentiles, Ephesians 4:8 , who, guided as he was, by the Spirit of truth, certainly neither did, not could, mistake the meaning of this divine oracle given forth by the inspiration of the same Spirit. It must, however, be acknowledged, that, having been speaking of victories and conquests in war, he borrows, as it was natural for him to do, his expressions on this subject from the ancient custom of princes and generals of armies, who, after such glorious achievements, were wont to go up into their royal cities in triumphant chariots, being attended by their captive enemies, and afterward to distribute divers gifts to their soldiers and subjects, and sometimes to do some acts of clemency, even to their enemies and rebels, and to receive them into the number of their own people. In allusion to this, he here represents the victorious Captain of our salvation as ascending to his royal city in the heavens, leading his enemies captive, and conferring the most important gifts, privileges, and blessings on his subjects, and even on such as had been rebels against his government. Thou hast led captivity captive — That is, either those who did formerly take thy people captive, or rather, those whom thou hadst taken captive, as this expression is most commonly used. See Deuteronomy 21:10 ; Jdg 5:12 . Thus poverty is but for the poor, 2 Kings 24:14 ; see the Hebrew. This is meant of Satan, sin and death, and of all the enemies of Christ and his people, whom he led in triumph, having spoiled them, and making a show of them openly, as is expressed Colossians 2:15 . Thou hast received gifts for men — Hebrew, ???? ; ?? ??????? , in the man, as the LXX. render it, that is, in the human nature, wherewith thou wast pleased to clothe thyself, that thou mightest be a merciful and faithful High-Priest in things pertaining to God. Not in thy Godhead; but according to thy manhood, thou hast received from God all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and all those gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit which are necessary, either to the perfection of thy nature, or the good of thy church and people; or, for men; not for angels; “fallen angels were not to be made saints,” says Henry, “nor standing angels ministers. Not for Jews only, but for all men; whosoever will may reap the benefit of these gifts.” The apostle, in the reference which he makes to these words, names some of these gifts: they were prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors, teachers; namely, the institution of a gospel ministry, and the qualification of men for it, both which are to be valued as the gifts of God, and the fruits of Christ’s ascension. The apostle reads it, he gave gifts to men. For he received that he might give them. And some of the best critics have observed, that in the Hebrew idiom, to take gifts for another, is the same as to give them to