اَلْمَزَامِيرُ 78:9

Smith Van Dyke Version

بنو افرايم النازعون في القوس الرامون انقلبوا في يوم الحرب‎.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

The children: Some think this refers to a defeat of the Ephraimites mentioned in 1 Chronicles 7:20-22, but it probably refers to the conduct and defeat of the ten tribes of which Ephraim was the head. Nothing is recorded in the history of Israel concerning the cowardice of the Ephraimites, as distinct from that of the other tribes: some therefore think, "that the children of Ephraim" is put by a figure of speech for the nation in general. Deuteronomy 1:41-44, Joshua 17:16-18, 1 Samuel 4:10, 1 Samuel 31:1

carrying: Heb. throwing forth

turned: Judges 9:28, Judges 9:38-40, Luke 22:33

Reciprocal: Judges 12:4 - fugitives Zechariah 11:8 - and my Luke 9:62 - No Acts 15:38 - who

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The children of Ephraim being armed, and carrying bows,.... Or "casting" arrows out of the "bow" a; they went out well armed to meet the enemy, and they trusted in their armour, and not in the Lord; and being skilful in throwing darts, or shooting arrows, promised themselves victory:

but turned back in the day of battle; fled from the enemy, could not stand their ground when the onset was made: what this refers to is not easy to determine; some think this with what follows respects the defection of the ten tribes in Rehoboam's time, which frequently go under the name of Ephraim; but we have no account of any battle then fought, and lost by them; and besides the history of this psalm reaches no further than the times of David; others are of opinion that it regards the time of Eli, when the Israelites were beaten by the Philistines, the ark of God was taken, Eli's two sons slain, and thirty thousand more, 1 Samuel 4:1. Ephraim being put for the rest of the tribes, the ark being in that tribe; others suppose that the affair between the Gileadites and Ephraimites, in the times of Jephthah, is referred to, when there fell of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand,

Judges 12:1, many of the Jewish b writers take it to be the history of a fact that was done in Egypt before the children of Israel came out from thence; see 1 Chronicles 7:20, so the Targum,

"when they dwelt in Egypt, the children of Ephraim grew proud, they appointed the end (or term of going out of Egypt), and they erred, and went out thirty years before the end, with warlike arms, and mighty men carrying bows, turned back, and were slain in the day of battle;''

though it seems most likely to have respect to what was done in the wilderness, as Kimchi observes, after they were come out of Egypt, and had seen the wonders of God there, and at the Red sea, and in the wilderness; and perhaps reference is had to the discomfiture of the Israelites by the Amalekites, when they went up the hill they were forbid to do, and in which, it may be, the Ephraimites were most forward, and suffered most; see Numbers 14:40.

a רומי קשת "jacientes arcu", Pagninus, Montanus; "jaculantes arcu", Tigurine version, Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus, Michaelis. b See Pirke Eliezer, c. 48. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 7. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The children of Ephraim - The sons of Ephraim; that is, the descendants of Ephraim; the tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim was one of the “largest” of the tribes of Israel, and was the “chief” tribe in the rebellion, and hence, the term is often used to denote the “ten” tribes, or the kingdom of Israel, in contradistinction from that of Judah. See Isaiah 7:2, Isaiah 7:5,Isaiah 7:8-9, Isaiah 7:17; Isaiah 11:13; Isaiah 28:1. The word is evidently used in this sense here, not as denoting that one tribe only, but that tribe as the head of the revolted kingdom; or, in other words, the name is used as representing the kingdom of that name after the revolt. See 1 Kings 12:0. This verse evidently contains the gist or the main idea of the psalm - to wit, that Ephraim, or the ten tribes, had turned away from the worship of the true God, and that, in consequence of that apostasy, the government had been transferred to another tribe - the tribe of Judah. See Psalms 78:67-68.

Being armed - The idea in this phrase is, that they had abundant means for maintaining their independence in connection with the other tribes, or as a part of the nation, but that they refused to cooperate with their brethren.

And carrying bows - Margin, “throwing forth.” Literally, “lifting up.” The idea is, that they were armed with bows; or, that they were fully armed.

Turned back in the day of battle - That is, they did not stand by their brethren, or assist them in defending their country. There is probably no reference here to any particular battle, but the idea is, that in the wars of the nation - in those wars which were waged for national purposes - they refused to join with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin in defense of the lawful government.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 78:9. The children of Ephraim - turned back — This refers to some defeat of the Ephraimites; and some think to that by the men of Gath, mentioned 1 Chronicles 7:21. R. D. Kimchi says this defeat of the Ephraimites was in the desert; and although the story be not mentioned in the law, yet it is written in the Books of the Chronicles, where we read, on the occasion of "Zabad the Ephraimite, and Shuthelah, c., whom the men of Gath, who were born in the land, slew and Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him," 1 Chronicles 7:20-22: but to what defeat of the Ephraimites this refers is not certainly known; probably the Israelites after the division of the two kingdoms are intended.