to mislay · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
works
עֲלִילוֹתָ֑יוa.li.lo.Tav
H5949
an exploit (of God) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
wonders
וְ֝נִפְלְאוֹתָ֗יוve.nif.le.'o.Tav
H6381
properly · conjunction + verb, niphal active participle, feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
shewed
הֶרְאָֽםher.'Am
H7200
to see · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
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 106:13 They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:
Deuteronomy 32:18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
Psalms 78:7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
Psalms 106:21-22 They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;
Jeremiah 2:32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 78:9-39
In these verses,
I. The psalmist observes the late rebukes of Providence that the people of Israel had been under, which they had brought upon themselves by their dealing treacherously with God, Psa 78:9-11. The children of Ephraim, in which tribe Shiloh was, though they were well armed and shot with bows, yet turned back in the day of battle. This seems to refer to that shameful defeat which the Philistines gave them in Eli's time, when they took the ark prisoner, Sa1 4:10, Sa1 4:11. Of this the psalmist here begins to speak, and, after a long digression, returns to it again, Psa 78:61. Well might that event be thus fresh in mind in David's time, above forty years after, for the ark, which…
And forgat his works, and his wonders,.... That is, his wonderful works, the miracles he wrought in their favour, and for their deliverance, afterwards particularly mentioned; these were not only forgotten in the next generation, Judges 15:10, but in a few years, yea, in a few months, nay, in a few days, when they had been but three days' journey in the wilderness, after their passage through the Red sea, see Exodus 15:1, which occasioned the observation of the psalmist, Psalm 106:12, that he had showed them; done in their sight, and in the sight of their fathers, as follows.
John Calvin on Psalms 78:7-11
Psalm 78:7-11
7. That they might set their hope [314] in God, and not forget the works of God; but keep his commandments. 8. And that they might not be as their fathers, a rebellious [or an apostatising] and a provoking generation; a generation which directed not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful towards God. 9. The children of Ephraim, being armed and shooting with the bow, turned back in the day of battle. 10. They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law. 11. And they forgat his works, and the wonders which he had shown them.
7. That they might set their hope in God. Here the Psalmist points out the use to which the doctrine which he had stated sh…
"And they forgat His benefits, and the wonderful works of Him which He showed to them; before their fathers the wonderful things which He did" [Psalm 78:11]. What this is, is not a question to be negligently passed over. Concerning those very fathers he was speaking a little before, that they had been a generation crooked and embittering....What fathers, inasmuch as these are the very fathers, whom he would not have posterity to be like? If we shall take them to be those out of whom the others had derived their being, for example, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, by this time they had long since fallen asleep, when God showed wonderful things in Egypt. For there follows, "in the land of Egypt, in the plain of Thanis" [Psalm 78:12]: where it is said that God showed to them wonderful things before their fathers. Were they perchance present in spirit? For of the same the Lord says in the Gospel, "for all do live to Him." [Luke 20:38] Or do we more suitably understand thereby the fathers Moses and Aaron, and the other elders who are related in the same Scripture also to have received the Spirit, of which also Moses received, in order that they might aid him in ruling and bearing the same people? [Numbers 11:17] For why should they not have been called fathers? It is not in the same manner as God is the One Father, who does regenerate with His Spirit those whom He does make sons for an everlasting inheritance; but it is for the sake of honour, because of their age and kindly carefulness: just as Paul the elder says, "Not to confound you I am writing these things, but as my dearly beloved sons I am admonishing you:" [1 Corinthians 4:14] though he knew of a truth that it had been said by the Lord, "Call ye no man your father on earth, for One is your Father, even God." [Matthew 23:9] And this was not said in order that this term of human honour should be erased from our usual way of speaking: but lest the grace of God whereby we are regenerated unto eternal life, should be ascribed either to the power or even sanctity of any man. Therefore when he said, "I have begotten you;" he first said, "in Christ," and "through the Gospel;" lest that might be thought to be of him, which is of God....Accordingly, the land of Egypt must be understood for a figure of this world. "The plain of Thanis" is the smooth surface of lowly commandment. For lowly commandment is the interpretation…
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
Forgetting God · Works — Works
Miracles · The wicked: Forget — The wicked: Forget
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).
Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 78:1-11
The poet begins very similarly to the poet of Ps 49. He comes forward among the people as a preacher, and demands for his tra a willing, attentive hearing. תּורה is the word for every human doctrine or instruction, especially for the prophetic discourse which sets forth and propagates the substance of the divine teaching. Asaph is a prophet, hence Psa 78:2 is quoted in Mat 13:34. as ῥηθὲν διὰ τοῦ προφήτου.
(Note: The reading διὰ Ἠσαΐ́ου τοῦ προφήτου is, although erroneous, nevertheless ancient; since even the Clementine Homilies introduce this passage as the language of Isaiah.)
He here recounts to the people their history מנּי־קדם, from that Egyptaeo-Sinaitic age of yore to which…
Ephraim, the second son of Joseph, received a special blessing from Jacob (Gen 48:15-20; 49:22-26; Deut 33:13-17). The land that his descendants received included fertile valleys and strategic roads (Judg 8:2). However, the people of Ephraim did not live in obedience to God’s gracious covenant.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 78:11
And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.
And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them. Had they remembered them they would have been filled with gratitude and inspired with holy awe: but the memory of God's mercies to them was as soon effaced as if written upon water. Scarcely could one generation retain the sense of the divine presence in miraculous power, the succeeding race needed a renewal of the extraordinary manifestations, and even then was not satisfied without many displays thereof. Ere we condemn them, let us repent of our own wicked forgetfulness, and confess the many occasions upon which we also have been unmindful of past favours.
