Psalms 53:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Psalms 53:6
Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
to give · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
salvation
יְשֻׁע֪וֹתye.shu.'ot
H3444
something saved · noun, common feminine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָ֫אֵ֥לyis.Ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
Zion
מִצִּיּוֹן֮mi.tzi.yOn
H6726
Tsijon (as a permanent capital) · preposition + proper noun, a place name
God
אֱ֭לֹהִים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
back
בְּשׁ֣וּבbe.Shuv
H7725
to turn back (hence · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
captivity
שְׁב֣וּתshe.Vut
H7622
exile · noun, common feminine singular construct
people
עַמּ֑וֹa.Mo
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Jacob
יַ֝עֲקֹ֗בya.'a.Ko
H3290
Jaakob · proper noun, a man's name
rejoice
יָגֵ֥לya.Gel
H1523
properly · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine singular
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵֽלYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
glad
יִשְׂמַ֥חyis.Mach
H8055
probably to brighten up · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 14:7 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Isr…
Jeremiah 30:18 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be…
Isaiah 12:6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.
Nehemiah 12:43 Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rej…
Psalms 106:46-48 He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.
Psalms 126:1-4 When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
Isaiah 12:1-3 And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst…
Isaiah 14:32 What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 53:1–end
This psalm was opened before, and therefore we shall here only observe, in short, some things concerning sin, in order to the increasing of our sorrow for it and hatred of it. 1. The fact of sin. Is that proved? Can the charge be made out? Yes, God is a witness to it, an unexceptionable witness: from the place of his holiness he looks on the children of men, and sees how little good there is among them, Psa 53:2. All the sinfulness of their hearts and lives in naked and open before him. 2. The fault of sin. Is there any harm in it? Yes, it is iniquity (Psa 53:1, Psa 53:4); it is an unrighteous thing; it is that which there is no good in (Psa 53:1, Psa 53:3); it is an evil thing; it is the wo…
Instead of assurances of God's presence with the pious, and a complaint of the wicked, Psa 14:5-6 portrays the ruin of the latter, whose "bones" even "are scattered" (compare Psa 141:7), and who are put to shame as contemptuously rejected of God.
Next: Psalms Chapter 54
John Gill on Psalms 53:6
O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!.... Or, "who will give (f) out of Zion the salvation of Israel?" The Targum adds, "except the Lord"; and this is a request to him for it: and, as in Psalm 14:7, it may be a wish for the first coming of Christ, to work out salvation for his people; here it may be expressive of the desire of the church for his coming in a spiritual manner, in the latter day, to take to himself his great power, and reign; to destroy antichrist, and deliver his people from bondage and oppression by him; when the Gentiles shall be gathered in, the Jews will be converted, and all Israel saved; see Romans 11:25. It is in the original text, "salvations" (g); deno…
Psalm 53:1-6
1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God: they have become corrupt, they have done abominable works: there is none that doeth good. 2. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. 3. Every one of them has gone back; they have together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 4. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? eating my people as they eat bread: [286] they have not called upon God. 5. There were they in great fear where no fear was; for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them. 6. Who…
The Church Fathers
For this reason what followeth concerning them? "There have they feared with fear, where there was no fear" (ver. 6). For is there fear, if a man lose riches? There is no fear there, and yet in that case men are afraid. But if a man lose wisdom, truly there is fear, and in that case he is not afraid. ...Thou hast feared to give back money, and hast willed to lose fidelity. The Martyrs took not away property of other persons, but even their own they despised that they might not lose fidelity: and it was too little to lose money, when they were proscribed; they took also their life when they suffered: they lost life, in order that unto everlasting life they might find it. Therefore there they feared, where they ought to have been afraid. But they that of Christ have said, "He is not God," have there feared where was no fear. For they said, "If we shall have let Him go, there will come the Romans, and will take away from us both place and kingdom." O folly and imprudence saying in its heart, "He is not God"! Thou hast feared to lose earth, thou hast lost Heaven: thou hast feared lest there should come the Romans, and take away from thee place and kingdom! Could they take away from thee God? What then remaineth? what but that thou confess, that thou hast willed to keep, and by keeping ill hast lost? For thou hast lost both place and nation by slaying Christ. For ye did will rather to slay Christ, than to lose place; and ye have lost place, and nation, and Christ. In fearing, they have slain Christ: but wherefore this? "For God hath scattered the bones of them that please men." Willing to please men, they feared to lose their place. But Christ Himself, of whom they said, "He is not God," willed rather to displease such men, as they were: sons of men, not sons of God, He willed rather to displease. Thence were scattered their bones, His bones no one hath broken. "They were confounded, for God hath despised them." In very deed, brethren, as far as regardeth them, great confusion hath come to them. In the place where they crucified the Lord, whom for this cause they crucified, that they might not lose both place and nation, the Jews are not. "God," therefore, "hath despised them:" and yet in despising He warned them to be converted. Let them now confess Christ, and say, He is God, of whom they said, "He is not God." Let them return to the inheritance of their…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Mahalath Maschil — In the title of Ps. 53, denoting that this was a didactic psalm, to be sung to the accompaniment of the lute or guitar. Others regard this word “mahalath” as the name simply of an old air to which…
Music, Instrumental — Among instruments of music used by the Hebrews a principal place is given to stringed instruments. These were, (1.) The kinnor, the “harp.” (2.) The nebel, “a skin bottle,” rendered “psaltery.” (3.)…
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The two texts now again coincide. Instead of ישׁוּעת, we here have ישׁעות; the expression is strengthened, the plural signifies entire, full, and final salvation.
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 53:5
scatter the bones: Israel’s enemies would suffer shameful defeat and lack the peaceful rest of a decent burial (cp. 141:7; 2 Kgs 9:10; Jer 8:1-2; Ezek 6:5).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 53:6
Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion. Would God the final battle were well over. When will the Lord avenge his own elect? When will the long oppression of the saints come to its close, and glory crown their heads? The word salvation is in the plural, to show its greatness. When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. Inasmuch as the yoke has been heavy, and the bondage cruel, the liberty will be happy, and the triumph joyous. The second advent and the restoration of Isr…
