Lectionary Calendar
Monday, July 21st, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Bible Commentaries
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers Ellicott's Commentary
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliographical Information
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on Psalms 12". "Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers". https://studylight.org/commentaries/eng/ebc/psalms-12.html. 1905.
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on Psalms 12". "Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers". https://studylight.org/
Whole Bible (44)Old Testament (1)Individual Books (6)
Introduction
XII.
The tradition of the Davidic authorship must be discarded here. The psalm is an elegy, but not for personal suffering. It is a lament over the demoralisation of men and the corruption of social life. Neither faith nor law are left; falsehood, duplicity, and hypocrisy succeed everywhere, and the honest men are so lost in the mass of wickedness that they seem to have disappeared altogether. We find similar complaints in Micah 7:2, Isaiah 57:1, and Jeremiah 5:1. But God has not left Himself without a witness. Prophetic voices have been raisedâperhaps Isaiahâsâin noble assertion of truth and justice, and the poet recalls one such voice, proclaiming the coming and the establishment of a righteous kingdom upon earth, the hope of which had already become the consolation and stay of the faithful.
The insertion of this oracle in Psalms 12:5 interferes with the rhythm, which else is even and regular.
For Title, see Introduction to Psalms 6:0.
Verse 1
(1) Ceaseth.âIntransitive, as in Psalms 7:9.
The faithful.âThe Vulg. and Syriac treat this word as abstract: âtruth,â âfaithfulness.â So Ewald; but the parallelism here, as in Psalms 31:23, requires it in the concrete. (Comp. 2 Samuel 20:19.) The Hebrew is cognate with âamen,â and Luther has âamenâs leute,â people as good as their word.
Verse 2
(2) Vanity.âSo in Psalms 41:6 and Job 35:13. Literally, evil. âFalsehoodâ would be better. This verse may have been in St Paulâs mind (Ephesians 4:25).
Flattering lips.âLiterally, lips of smoothness, (Comp. Note, Psalms 5:9.)
With a double heart.âLiterally, with a heart and a heart. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 12:33.) âOne for the Church, another for the Change; one for Sundays, another for working-days; one for the king, another for the Pope. A man without a heart is a wonder, but a man with two hearts is a monster.ââThos. Adams, A.D. 1614.
Verse 3
(3) The Lord shall.âTranslate, May Jehovah cut off.
Proud things.âLiterally, great things. Vulg., linguam magniloquam.
Verse 4
(4) With our tongue.âThis is the proud saying just mentioned, and is plainly a boast of the power possessed by those who have the ear of persons in authority, and can adroitly âmake the worse appear the better causeâ; or being themselves in high places, can, like Angelo in Measure for Measure, defy the accusations of their victims:â
âWho will believe thee, Isabel?
My place in the State
Will so your accusation overweigh
That you shall stifle in your own report,
And smell of calumny.â
But there is great difference of opinion as to the proper rendering, âwith our tongues will we prevail.â Some render, âwe are masters of our tonguesâ; others, âwith our tongues we confederateâ: i.e., âour tongues are our allies.â The last rendering agrees best with the next clause.
Our lips are our own.âLiterally, are with us: i.e., on our side. (Comp. 2 Kings 9:32.)
Verse 5
(5) For the oppressionâi.e., on account of the oppression. Here, as in so many psalms and prophecies, we have an ancient oracle of God introduced. The poet first quotes it, and then in Psalms 12:6 contrasts its truth and genuineness with the false speeches of hypocrites.
I will set.âLiterally, I will set in safety; he blows at it: which may mean either, âI will ensure him of the safety for which he panteth,â or âI will set him in safety who panteth for it.â This sense is fixed by Habakkuk 2:3 : âit panteth to its end,â i.e., for its accomplishment.
Verse 6
(6) As silver.âThis solemn promise of Jehovah may be relied on, for His words are not like those of deceitful menâalloyed with self and falsehoodâbut are pure as silver seven times smelted.
In a furnace.âEither a âworkshopâ or a âcrucible,â according as derived.
Of earth.âThese words are difficult; they must mean either in earth, referring to the ashes in which the smelted silver falls, or as to earth, i.e., as to the alloy, or as we say, purified of the alloy.
But erets is never else used for the material, earth, and Hitzigâs emendation, rats = bar, or piece (Psalms 68:30), âmelted into a bar from the crucible,â is almost convincing in its simplicity and aptness.
Verse 8
(8) The wicked.âGesenius translates this verse, âThe wicked walk on every side like the rising of a tempest upon the sons of men.â There seems no reason to question his rendering of the word zullûth (Authorised Version, âvilestâ), which is peculiar to this passage; but by comparison with Psalms 39:6; Psalms 58:7, we may render the first clause, the wicked vanish on every side; and a slight change gives for the second clause, at the rising of a tempest on the sons of men.