Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 76:5

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 76:5. The stout-hearted are spoiled — The boasting blasphemers, such as Rab-shakeh, and his master Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.

They have slept their sleep — They were asleep in their tent when the destroying angel, the suffocating wind, destroyed the whole; they over whom it passed never more awoke.

None of the men of might — Is not this a strong irony? Where are your mighty men? their boasted armour, &c.?

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 75-76 Exalting God, not self

In a psalm designed for use in public worship, the congregation begins by thanking God for all his mighty deeds (75:1). A singer representing God replies that even when conditions in the world look hopeless, God is still in control. He will intervene when he sees fit (2-3). Therefore, the wicked should not be proud or stubborn like an ox that struggles against its master (4-5). The only exaltation that matters is that which comes from God. The opinions of people mean nothing (6-7). Punishment also comes from God, and the wicked will drink his cup of anger to the last drop (8).
The leader of the congregation then responds on the people’s behalf. He gives the assurance that they will always remain loyal to their God and will cooperate with him in doing good and opposing evil (9-10).
In the next psalm God is again praised, this time for some great deliverance in saving Jerusalem from an enemy (76:1-3). His glory, majesty and power are seen in the decisive way he crushed the enemy (4-6). The one who defends Jerusalem is also Lord of the universe. Nothing can stand before him. His power is absolute in the heavens and on the earth (7-9).
Angry rebellion against God is turned into a source of praise to him, for his triumph brings glory to his name. Since God will be glorified whether people submit or rebel, they will do well to bring glory to him willingly by offering true and humble worship (10-12).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Glorious art thou, and excellent, more than mountains of prey. The stouthearted are made a spoil, They have slept their sleep; And none of the men of might have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, Both chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep."

"More than mountains of prey" There is some uncertainty of the meaning here. Delitzsch explained it as, "An appellation for haughty possessors of worldly power."Ibid.

"They have slept their sleep… and none… have found their hands" Briggs translated this verse this way:

"The stouthearted slept their last sleep, And the men of war did not find spoil."International Critical Commentary, Vol. II, p. 165.

The clause, "none have found their hands" in the New English Bible is rendered, "the men cannot lift a hand." The Septuagint (LXX) reads, "have found nothing in their hands." Rawlinson gave the meaning as, "They cannot even move a hand."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8-B, p. 102. Such various attempts to give the meaning of an admittedly difficult verse should not concern us very much, because, what is being described here, according to Delitzsch, is, "A field of corpses, the effect of the omnipotent energy of the word of the God of Jacob."F. Delitzsch, op. cit., p. 545.

"Both chariot and horse… into a dead sleep" Of course, no chariot ever went to sleep. The chariot here, by a figure of speech, refers to charioteer, just as the horse also includes the rider. Sudden death overcame the whole army.

"Cast into a deep sleep" "The sleep here is the sleep of death as distinguished from natural sleep."International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 166.

"One word from the sovereign lips of the God of Jacob, and all the noise of the camp is hushed, and we look upon a field of the dead, lying in awful stillness, dreamlessly sleeping their long slumber."Alexander Maclaren, op. cit., p. 368.

A GLIMPSE OF THE ETERNAL JUDGMENT DAY

We have previously quoted from Lord Byron's poem, but here are a few more lines of it:

"And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide. But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail.
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown."

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The stout-hearted are spoiled - The valiant men, the men who came so confidently to the invasion. The word “spoiled” here, as elsewhere in the Scriptures, means “plundered,” not (as the word is now used) “corrupted.” See the notes at Colossians 2:8.

They have slept their sleep - They are dead; they have slept their last sleep. Death, in the Scriptures, as in all other writings, is often compared with sleep.

And none of the men of might - The men who came forth for purposes of war and conquest.

Have found their hands - The Septuagint renders this, “Have found nothing in their hands;” that is, they have obtained no plunder. Luther renders it, “And all warriors must suffer their hands to fall.” De Wette, “Have lost their hands?” The idea seems to be, that they had lost the use of their hands; that is, that they had no use for them, or did not find them of any use. They could not employ them for the purpose for which they were intended, but were suddenly stricken down.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

5.The stout-hearted were spoiled, The power of God in destroying his enemies is here exalted by another form of expression. The verb אשתוללו , eshtolelu, which we translate were spoiled, is derived from שלל, shalal, and the letter א, aleph, is put instead of the letter ה, he. ⁽²⁷⁰⁾ Some translate, were made fools; ⁽²⁷¹⁾ but this is too forced. I, however, admit that it is of the same import, as if it had been said, that they were deprived of wisdom and courage; but we must adhere to the proper signification of the word. What is added in the second clause is to the same purpose, All the men of might have not found their hands ⁽²⁷²⁾ that is to say, they were as incapable of fighting as if their hands had been maimed or cut off. In short, their strength, of which they boasted, was utterly overthrown. The words,they slept their sleep, ⁽²⁷³⁾ refer to the same subject; implying that whereas before they were active and resolute, their hearts now failed them, and they were sunk asleep in sloth and listlessness. The meaning, therefore, is, that the enemies of the chosen people were deprived of that heroic courage of which they boasted, and which inspired them with such audacity; and that, in consequence, neither mind, nor heart, nor hands, none either of their mental or bodily faculties, could perform their office. We are thus taught that all the gifts and power which men seem to possess are in the hand of God, so that he can, at any instant of time, deprive them of the wisdom which he has given them, make their hearts effeminate, render their hands unfit for war, and annihilate their whole strength. It is not without reason that both the courage and power of these enemies are magnified; the design of this being, that the faithful might be led, from the contrast, to extol the power and working of God. The same subject is farther confirmed from the statement, that the chariot and the horse were cast into a deep sleep at the rebuke of God ⁽²⁷⁴⁾ This implies, that whatever activity characterised these enemies, it was rendered powerless, simply by the nod of God. Although, therefore, we may be deprived of all created means of help, let us rest contented with the favor of God alone, accounting it all-sufficient, since he has no need of great armies to repel the assaults of the whole world, but is able, by the mere breath of his mouth, to subdue and dissipate all assailants.

(270) The verb is in the praet. hithpahel; and it has א, aleph, instead of ה, he, according to the Chaldaic language, which changes ה, the Hebrew characteristic of hiphil and hithpahel into א

(271) As the verb signifies, has plundered, spoiled; and as it is here in the praet. hithpahel, which generally denotes reciprocal action, that is, acting on one’s self, it has been here rendered by some, despoiled themselves of mind, were mad, furious. Hammond reads, “The stout-hearted have despoiled or disarmed themselves.” The Chaldee paraphrase is, “They have cast away their weapons.”

(272) “ידיהם לא מצאו, may be rendered have not found their hands, i e. , have not been able to use them for resistance, for the offending others, or even for their own defense.” —Hammond The Chaldee paraphrase is, “They could not take their weapons in their hands,” i e. , they could not use their hands to manage their weapons. In the Septuagint, the reading is,εὕρον οὐδὲν ταῖς χερσιν αὐτῶν; “they found nothing with their hands,” i e. , they were able to do nothing with them: the vast army of Assyrians, the most warlike and victorious then in the world, achieved nothing, but “returned with shame to face to their own land,” (2 Chronicles 32:21.)

(273) “They slept their sleep. ” “They slept, but never waked again.” —Hammond. There may be here a direct allusion to the catastrophe which befell the Assyrian army during the night, when, as they were fast asleep in their tents, a hundred and eighty-five thousand of them were at once slain, Isaiah 37:36.

(274) The chariot and horse may be put poetically for charioteers and horsemen. Chariots formed a most important part of the array in the battles of the ancients. See Judges 4:3. Instead of “both the chariot and the horse,” Horsley reads, “both the rider and the horse.” “It is not improbable,” says he, “that the pestilence in Sennacherib’s army might seize the horses as well as the men, although the death of the beasts is not mentioned by the sacred historian.”

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 76:1-12

Psalms 76:1-12 :

In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel ( Psalms 76:1 ).

Judah, of course, was the southern kingdom. Israel was the northern kingdom.

In Salem also is his tabernacle [that would be Jerusalem], and his dwelling place in mount Zion. And there brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. The stout-hearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep. Thou, even thou, are to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once you are angry? Thou did cause judgment to be heard from heaven; and the earth feared, and was still, When God arose to judgment, to save the meek of the earth. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared. He shall cut off the spirit of the princes: he is awesome to the kings of the eaRuth ( Psalms 76:2-12 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 76

In this psalm of declarative praise, Asaph praised God for His power. He had destroyed the wicked and delivered the godly. Therefore the leaders of His people should follow Him faithfully. The psalm is in the form of a victory hymn, though it may not refer to one particular victory in Israel’s history.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The description of God as resplendent pictures Him as radiating light. He illuminates and glorifies by His presence. He is also more majestic than the mountains of Israel that contained an abundance of wild game animals. God’s defeat of Israel’s enemies was so overwhelming that they appeared anesthetized (cf. Isaiah 37:36).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. The justice of God’s judgment 76:4-10

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

The stout hearted are spoiled,.... The Assyrian army, its officers and generals, that came up against Jerusalem, with great resolution and courage, and with daring impiety and blasphemy against the God of heaven, as Rabshakeh and others; these were spoiled, and their armour and riches became a prey to those they thought to have made a prey of. So principalities and powers were spoiled by Christ upon the cross, and Satan, the strong man armed, has in the conversion of a sinner his armour taken from him, and his spoils divided by him that is stronger than he; and such as are stouthearted, and far from true righteousness, are stripped of their own, and made willing, in the day of Christ's power upon them, to submit to his; and as for antichrist, whose look is more stout than his fellows, that exalts himself above all that is called God, and opens his mouth in blasphemy against him and his followers, he shall be destroyed with the breath of Christ's mouth, and the brightness of his coming: or "the stout hearted have spoiled themselves" a; as the Midianites did, or gave themselves for a prey; so the Targum,

"the stouthearted have cast off from them the weapons of war;''

threw away their armour, and ran away, such of them as were not destroyed by the angel. It is observable, that the Hebrew word, translated "spoiled", is in the Syriac form:

they have slept their sleep: the sleep of death, as did the Assyrians when smitten by the angel, which was done in the night, when probably they were fast asleep, and so never awoke more, as the Babylonians,

Jeremiah 51:57. So Jezebel, or the Romish antichrist, shall be cast into a bed, and her children killed with death, Revelation 2:22. Death is often in Scripture signified by a sleep, both the death of the righteous and of the wicked; but there is a difference between the one and the other; wherefore the death of the wicked here is called "their sleep"; the one sleep in Jesus, in his arms, and under his guardianship, the other not; to the one death is a true and proper rest from toil and labour, to the other only a cessation from doing mischief, Job 3:17, the one rests in hopes of a glorious resurrection, the other not; the one will awake in Christ's likeness, and to everlasting life; the other in the image of Satan, and to everlasting shame and contempt:

and none of the men of might have found their hands; none of the valiant soldiers in the Assyrian army could find their hands to fight their enemies, or defend themselves; as men in a deep sleep cannot find their hands to do anything, and are as if they had none, and still less in a dead sleep. The Targum is,

"they were not able to lay hold on their armour with their hands.''

This was the case of them that were killed; and as for those that remained alive, they were struck with such a panic, that their hearts could not endure, nor their hands be strong when God thus dealt with them; and so it will be with the antichristian army at the battle of Armageddon; and so it is with the wicked at death, they cannot find their hands so as to prevent it; and when it has seized upon them, they cannot find their hands to do any more mischief.

a אשתוללו "praedae se exposnerunt", Tigurine version, Gejerus; "dediderunt se in praedam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

To the chief musician on Neginoth. A psalm or song of Asaph.

      1 In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel.   2 In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.   3 There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah.   4 Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey.   5 The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands.   6 At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.

      The church is here triumphant even in the midst of its militant state. The psalmist, in the church's name, triumphs here in God, the centre of all our triumphs.

      I. In the revelation God had made of himself to them, Psalms 76:1; Psalms 76:1. It is the honour and privilege of Judah and Israel that among them God is known, and where he is known his name will be great. God is known as he is pleased to make himself known; and those are happy to whom he discovers himself--happy people that have their land filled with the knowledge of God, happy persons that have their hearts filled with that knowledge. In Judah God was known as he was not known in other nations, which made the favour the greater, inasmuch as it was distinguishing, Psalms 147:19; Psalms 147:20.

      II. In the tokens of God's special presence with them in his ordinances, Psalms 76:2; Psalms 76:2. In the whole land of Judah and Israel God was known and his name was great; but in Salem, in Zion, were his tabernacle and his dwelling-place. There he kept court; there he received the homage of his people by their sacrifices and entertained them by the feasts upon the sacrifices; thither they came to address themselves to him, and thence by his oracles he issued out his orders; there he recorded his name, and of that place he said, Her will I dwell, for I have desired it. It is the glory and happiness of a people to have God among them by his ordinances; but his dwelling-place is a tabernacle, a movable dwelling. Yet a little while is that light with us.

      III. In the victories they had obtained over their enemies (Psalms 76:3; Psalms 76:3): There broke he the arrows of the bow. Observe how threatening the danger was. Though Judah and Israel, Salem and Zion, were thus privileged, yet war is raised against them, and the weapons of war are furbished.

      1. Here are bow and arrows, shield and sword, and all for battle; but all are broken and rendered useless. And it was done there, (1.) In Judah and in Israel, in favour of that people near to God. While the weapons of war were used against other nations they answered their end, but, when turned against that holy nation, they were immediately broken. The Chaldee paraphrases it thus: When the house of Israel did his will he placed his majesty among them, and there he broke the arrows of the bow; while they kept closely to his service they were great and safe, and every thing went well with them. Or, (2.) In the tabernacle and dwelling-place in Zion, there he broke the arrows of the bow; it was done in the field of battle, and yet it is said to be done in the sanctuary, because done in answer to the prayers which God's people there made to him and in the performance of the promises which he there made to them, of both which see that instance, 2 Chronicles 20:5; 2 Chronicles 20:14. Public successes are owing as much to what is done in the church as to what is done in the camp. Now,

      2. This victory redounded very much, (1.) To the immortal honour of Israel's God (Psalms 76:4; Psalms 76:4): Thou art, and hast manifested thyself to be, more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. [1.] "Than the great and mighty ones of the earth in general, who are high, and think themselves firmly fixed like mountains, but are really mountains of prey, oppressive to all about them. It is their glory to destroy; it is thine to deliver." [2.] "Than our invaders in particular. When they besieged the cities of Judah, they cast up mounts against them, and raised batteries; but thou art more able to protect us than they are to annoy us." Wherein the enemies of the church deal proudly it will appear that God is above them. (2.) To the perpetual disgrace of the enemies of Israel, Psalms 76:5; Psalms 76:6. They were stouthearted, men of great courage and resolution, flushed with their former victories, enraged against Israel, confident of success; they were men of might, robust and fit for service; they had chariots and horses, which were then greatly valued and trusted to in war, Psalms 20:7. But all this force was of no avail when it was levelled against Jerusalem. [1.] The stouthearted have despoiled and disarmed themselves (so some read it); when God pleases he can make his enemies to weaken and destroy themselves. They have slept, not the sleep of the righteous, who sleep in Jesus, but their sleep, the sleep of sinners, that shall awake to everlasting shame and contempt. [2.] The men of might can no more find their hands than the stout-hearted can their spirit. As the bold men are cowed, so the strong men are lamed, and cannot so much as find their hands, to save their own heads, much less to hurt their enemies. [3.] The chariots and horses may be truly said to be cast into a dead sleep when their drivers and their riders were so. God did but speak the word, as the God of Jacob that commands deliverances for Jacob, and, at his rebuke, the chariot and horse were both cast into a dead sleep. When the men were laid dead upon the spot by the destroying angel the chariot and horse were not at all formidable. See the power and efficacy of God's rebukes. With what pleasure may we Christians apply all this to the advantages we enjoy by the Redeemer! It is through him that God is known; it is in him that God's name is great; to him it is owing that God has a tabernacle and a dwelling-place in his church. He it was that vanquished the strong man armed, spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly.