Psalms 78:59
in Psalms 78On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When God heard this, he was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel;
KJV
When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:
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This verse in Psalms 78
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"God heard, and He despised:" that is, He gave heed and took vengeance. "And unto nothing He brought Israel exceedingly" [Psalm 78:60]. For when God despised, what were they who by God's help were what they were? But doubtless he is commemorating the doing of that thing, when they were conquered by the Philistines in the time of Heli the priest, and the Ark of the Lord was taken, and with great slaughter they were laid low. This it is that he speaks of.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
When God heard this,....
Those that had been the people of his choice became the generation of his wrath. Presumptuous sins, idolatries especially, render even Israelites odious to God's holiness and obnoxious to his justice. He deserted his tabernacle among them, and removed the defence which was upon that glory,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
When God heard this, he was wroth. The mere report of it filled him with indignation; he could not bear it, he was incensed to the uttermost, and most justly so. And greatly abhorred Israel. He cast his idolatrous people from his favour, and left them to themselves, and their own devices. How could he have fellowship with idols? What concord hath Christ with Belial? Sin is in itself so offensive that it makes the sinner offensive too. Idols of any sort are highly abhorrent to God, and we must see to it that we keep ourselves from them through divine grace, for rest assured idolatry is not consistent with true grace in the heart. If Dagon sit aloft in any soul, the ark of God is not there. Where the Lord dwells no image of jealousy will be tolerated. A visible church will soon become a visible curse if idols be set up in it, and then the pruning knife will remove it as a dead branch from the vine. Note that God did not utterly cast away his people Israel even when he greatly abhorred them, for he returned in mercy to them, so the subsequent verses tell us: so now the seed of Abraham, though for awhile under a heavy cloud, will be gathered yet again, for the covenant of salt shall not be broken. As for the spiritual seed, the Lord hath not despised nor abhorred them; they are his peculiar treasure and lie for ever near his heart.
When God heard this, he was wroth. The mere report of it filled him with indignation; he could not bear it, he was incensed to the uttermost, and most justly so. And greatly abhorred Israel. He cast his idolatrous people from his favour, and left them to themselves, and their own devices. How could he have fellowship with idols? What concord hath Christ with Belial? Sin is in itself so offensive that it makes the sinner offensive too.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
When God heard this - literally, “God heard;” that is, he understood this; he was acquainted with it. He heard their prayers addressed to false gods; he heard their praises sung in honor of idols. He was wroth - This is language taken from the common manner of speaking among people, for language derived from human conceptions and usages must be employed when we speak of God, though it may be difficult to say what is its exact meaning.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁמַ֣ע | shama' | he heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֱ֭לֹהִים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וַֽיִּתְעַבָּ֑ר | vaiyitabar | and he was furious | H5674 → | 556 times |
| וַיִּמְאַ֥ס | vaiyimas | and he rejected | H3988 → | 76 times |
| מְ֝אֹ֗ד | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
| בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | beyisrael | <in> Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
שָׁמַ֣עhe heard
shama'H8085 →1159 times
אֱ֭לֹהִיםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
וַֽיִּתְעַבָּ֑רand he was furious
vaiyitabarH5674 →556 times
וַיִּמְאַ֥סand he rejected
vaiyimasH3988 →76 times
מְ֝אֹ֗דexceedingly
meodH3966 →300 times
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃<in> Israel
beyisraelH3478 →2507 times
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
Psalms 11:4The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD is on His heavenly throne. His eyes are watching closely; they examine the sons of men.
it leads to
- Psalms 103:19
The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.
- Psalms 18:6
In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.
- Psalms 2:4
The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them.
- Habakkuk 2:20
But the LORD is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.
- Isaiah 66:1
This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?
- Psalms 103:19
Through
Psalms 106:40So the anger of the LORD burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance.
it leads to
- Judges 2:14
Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 2:14
Through
Leviticus 26:44Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject or despise them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I…
it leads to
- Romans 11:2
God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel:
- Romans 11:2
Through
Lamentations 2:7The Lord has rejected His altar; He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have raised a shout in the house of…
it leads to
- Psalms 74:3–8
Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins, to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed.
- Psalms 74:3–8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies13
About Psalms
This page draws on 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.