Psalms 78:38 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Psalms 78:38
But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
to cover (specifically with bitumen) · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
iniquity
עָוֹן֮'a.Von
H5771
perversity · noun, common masculine singular absolute
destroyed
יַ֫שְׁחִ֥יתyash.Chit
H7843
to decay · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
time
וְ֭הִרְבָּהVe.hir.bah
H7235
to increase (in whatever respect) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
turned
לְהָשִׁ֣יבle.ha.Shiv
H7725
to turn back (hence · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
anger
אַפּ֑וֹ'a.Po
H639
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
away
שׁוּבshûwb
H7725
to turn back (hence
up
יָ֝עִירYa.'ir
H5782
to wake (literally or figuratively) · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
wrath
חֲמָתֽוֹcha.ma.To
H2534
heat · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 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
Numbers 14:18-20 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniqu…
Isaiah 48:9 For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.
Ezekiel 20:17 Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.
Exodus 34:6-9 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness an…
2 Kings 21:20 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did.
Isaiah 44:21-22 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten…
Ezekiel 20:13-14 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a ma…
Ezekiel 20:21-22 Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, h…
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…
But he, being full of compassion,.... Or merciful; having bowels of mercy, as a tender mother to the son of her womb; a word from the same root as this signifies the womb: the mercies of God are tender and abundant; there is a multitude of them; he is rich and plenteous in mercy, and so ready to forgive; hence it follows,
forgave their iniquity; forgiveness of sin flows from the tender mercy of God; it is according to the multitude of his mercies, and the riches of his grace; yet is through the blood and attoning sacrifice of his Son; and the word (c) that is here used signifies to expiate or atone; God never intended to pardon sinners, but through the propitiation of his Son, whom he set f…
Psalm 78:38-41
38. Yet he, being merciful, expiated their iniquity, [340] and did not destroy them: and he multiplied to turn away his anger, and did not stir up all his wrath. 39. And he remembered that they were flesh; a spirit [341] that passeth, and returneth not. 40. How often did they provoke him in the desert, and grieve him in the wilderness! 41. And they returned, and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
38. Yet he, being merciful, expiated their iniquity. To show the more fully that no means had succeeded in bending the Israelites, and causing them to return to a sound state of mind, we are now informed that, although God bare with their multiplied transgressions, and…
The Church Fathers
"But He is Himself merciful, and will become propitious to their sins, and He will not destroy them. And He will abound to turn away His anger, and He will not kindle all his anger." By these words many men promise to themselves impunity for their iniquity from the Divine Mercy, even if they shall have persevered in being such, as that generation is described, "crooked and embittering; which hath not directed their heart, and the spirit thereof hath not been trusted with God:" with whom it is not profitable to agree. For if, to speak in their words, God will perchance not destroy no not even bad men, without doubt He will not destroy good men. Why then do we not rather choose that wherein there is no doubt? For they that lie to Him in their tongue, though their heart doth hold some other thing, do think indeed, and will, even God to be a liar, when He doth menace upon such men eternal punishment. But whilst they do not deceive Him with their lying, He doth not deceive them with speaking the truth. These words therefore of divine sayings, concerning which the crooked generation doth cajole itself, let it not make crooked like its own heart: for even when it is made crooked, they continue right. For at first they may be understood according to that which is written in the Gospel, "that ye may be like your Father who is in the Heavens, who maketh His sun to rise upon good men and evil men, and raineth upon just men and unjust men." For who could not see, how great is the long-suffering of mercy with which He is sparing evil men? But before the Judgment, He spared then that nation in such sort, that He kindled not all His anger, utterly to root it up and bring it to an end: which thing in His words and in the intercession for their sins of His servant Moses doth evidently appear, where God saith, "Let Me blot them out, and make thee into a great nation:" he intercedeth, being more ready to be blotted out for them than that they should be; knowing that he is doing this before One Merciful, who inasmuch as by no means He would blot out him, would even spare them for his sake. For let us see how greatly He spared, and doth still spare...
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
Afflictions · Tempered with mercy — Tempered with mercy
Afflictions And Adversities · .Tempered with mercy — .Tempered with mercy
Long-Suffering Of God, The · Exemplified: Israel — Exemplified: Israel
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 second part of the Psalm now begins. God, notwithstanding, in His compassion restrains His anger; but Israel's God-tempting conduct was continued, even after the journey through the desert, in Canaan, and the miracles of judgment amidst which the deliverance out of Egypt had been effected were forgotten. With והוּא in Psa 78:38
(Note: According to B. Kiddushin 30a, this Psa 78:38 is the middle one of the 5896 פסוקין, στίχοι, of the Psalter. According to B. Maccoth 22b, Psa 78:38, and previously Deu 28:58-59; Deu 29:8 [9], were recited when the forty strokes of the lash save one, which according to Co2 11:24 Paul received five times, were being counted out to the culprit.)
begins an adve…
The Israelites remembered the right doctrine (9:9; 91:1), but they did not allow God to change their hearts (Lev 26:41).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 78:38
But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not. Though they were full of flattery, he was full of mercy, and for this cause he had pity on them. Not because of their pitiful and hypocritical pretensions to penitence, but because of his own real compassion for them he overlooked their provocations. Yea, many a time turned he his anger away. When he had grown angry with them he withdrew his displeasure. Even unto seventy times seven did he forgive their offences. He was slow, very slow, to anger. The s…
