Psalms 78:12
in Psalms 78He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
KJV
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
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This verse in Psalms 78
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
A record of God's dealings and the sins of the people is now made. The writer gives the history from the exode to the retreat from Kadesh; then contrasts their sins with their reasons for confidence, shown by a detail of God's dealings in Egypt, and presents a summary of the subsequent history to David's time.
This site's exposition
The archers of Ephraim turned back
on Psalms 78:9-16
Ephraim's archers turned back, and verses 10 and 11 name the failure, a broken covenant and forgotten works. The works come next, wonders in Egypt at Zoan, the sea split, the cloud and fire, and water out of split rock. Delitzsch ties the tribe to its rejection at verse 67.
This site's exposition
in the region of Zoan
Zoan is Tanis, a city in the land of Egypt. Clarke placed it in the Delta as the seat of Pharaoh, where Moses worked many wonders before their fathers. He also reported that the name could stand for all Egypt.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"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? […]
"Before their fathers the wonders which he did." The heretics, then, having forgotten their father, the wonders which he did in the land of Egypt, in the darkness of this world, how he freed them — they were reborn in the church, and afterward, once they were born, the church displeases them. "In the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis": where idolatry was, where the king of Egypt was, where the horsemen of Egypt were, where Jannes and Mambres the adversaries of Moses were, where idolatry was. We were all in Egypt, and we have been freed by the Lord.
"Before their fathers the wonders which he did in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis: he split the sea and led them through; he set the waters as if in a wineskin, and led them down in a cloud by day." Let someone say: You do violence to Scripture: for it is said simply of the people of Israel, when they were led out of the land of Egypt, and therefore it is said according to the history; and we read that the ten tribes forsook God, and became idolaters, and that they followed the golden calves.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Egypt, here called the field of Zoan, was the scene of marvellous things which were done in open day in the sight of Israel. These were extraordinary, upon a vast scale, astounding, indisputable, and such as ought to have rendered it impossible for an Israelite to be disloyal to Jehovah, Israel's God.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The field of Zoan - “In campo Taneos,” Vugate. Tanis was the capital of Pharaoh, where Moses wrought so many miracles. It was situated in the Delta, on one of the most easterly branches of the Nile. It was afterwards called Thanis; and from it the district was called the Thanitic Canton. See Calmet. Dr. Shaw thinks Zoan was intended to signify Egypt in general.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers - Things suited to excite wonder and astonishment. Such were all the miracles that he performed, in effecting the deliverance of his people. In the land of Egypt - In delivering them from Pharaoh. In the field of Zoan - The Septuagint renders this ἐν πεδίῳ Τάνεως en pediō Taneōs” in the plain of Tanis.” So the Latin Vulgate. Zoan or Tanis was an ancient city of Lower Egypt, situated on the eastern side of the Tanitie arm of the Nile. The name given to it in the Egyptian language signified “low region.” See the notes at Isa 19:11. The Hebrews seem to have been located in this region, and it was in this part of Egypt - that is, in the country lying round about Zoan - that the wonders of God were principally manifested in behalf of his people.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Before their forefathers He wrought wonders (Nevertheless—Shem Ephraim) Afterwards, when the end arrived, they too “continued to sin against Him,” as he further concludes. (Another explanation—Shem Ephraim)
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
as a heap Heb. נד, a tall heap, as Onkelos renders (Exod.:8): “the flowing water stood up like a נֵד,” stood up like a wall.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נֶ֣גֶד | neged | before | H5048 → | 151 times |
| אֲ֭בוֹתָם | ʾavotom | ancestors their | H1 → | 1212 times |
| עָ֣שָׂה | ʾasah | he did | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| פֶ֑לֶא | fele' | wonder[s] | H6382 → | 13 times |
| בְּאֶ֖רֶץ | beeretz | in [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִצְרַ֣יִם | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| שְׂדֵה־ | sedeh- | [the] region of | H7704 → | 334 times |
| צֹֽעַן׃ | tzoan | Zoan | H6814 → |
נֶ֣גֶדbefore
negedH5048 →151 times
אֲ֭בוֹתָםancestors their
ʾavotomH1 →1212 times
עָ֣שָׂהhe did
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
פֶ֑לֶאwonder[s]
fele'H6382 →13 times
בְּאֶ֖רֶץin [the] land of
beeretzH776 →2504 times
מִצְרַ֣יִםEgypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
שְׂדֵה־[the] region of
sedeh-H7704 →334 times
צֹֽעַן׃Zoan
tzoanH6814 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 13:22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
it leads to
- Psalms 78:43
when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 19:11
The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 78:43
Through
Exodus 7:1The LORD answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
it leads to
- Exodus 4:15–16
You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do.
- Psalms 82:6
I have said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.’
- John 10:35–36
If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—
- Jeremiah 1:10
See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”
- Exodus 4:15–16
Through
Isaiah 19:11The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?
it leads to
- Numbers 13:22
They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 30:4
For though their princes are at Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 13:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies9
About Psalms
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 78; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 11, on Psalm 77; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.