Psalms 80:1
in Psalms 80Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that sittest above the cherubim, shine forth.
KJV
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
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This verse in Psalms 80
Commentary
9 notes on this verse"Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel." Hear thou the bleatings of thy suffering flock. The name is full of tenderness, and hence is selected by the troubled psalmist: broken hearts delight in names of grace. Good old Jacob delighted to think of God as the Shepherd of Israel, and this verse may refer to his dying expression: "From thence is the Shepherd, the stone of Israel." We may be quite sure that he who deigns to be a shepherd to his people will not turn a deaf ear to their complaints. "Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock."
This site's exposition
O Shepherd of Israel
on Psalms 80:1-3
God is addressed as the Shepherd of Israel, the One who leads Joseph like a flock. He sits enthroned between the cherubim, and the prayer asks Him to shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Numbers 2:18 to 22 camps those three tribes together on the west.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
It should also be known that often the very orders of blessed spirits take on the names of orders neighboring them. For we have said that the Thrones, that is, the seats of God, are a special order of blessed spirits, and yet it is said by the Psalmist: "You who sit upon the cherubim, appear," because, evidently, since in those very distinctions of hosts the cherubim are joined to the thrones, the Lord is said to sit even upon the cherubim by equality with the neighboring host.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He dwells between the cherubim, where he is ready to receive petitions and to give directions. The mercy-seat was between the cherubim; and it is very comfortable in prayer to look up to God as sitting on a throne of grace, and that it is so to us is owning to the great propitiation, for the mercy-seat was the propitiatory.
Complains of heavy distress, ver. 4-7. Illustrates this, by the comparison of a vine, ver. 8-16. Concludes with a prayer for mercy, ver.
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Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
"Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel." Hear thou the bleatings of thy suffering flock. The name is full of tenderness, and hence is selected by the troubled psalmist: broken hearts delight in names of grace. Good old Jacob delighted to think of God as the Shepherd of Israel, and this verse may refer to his dying expression: "From thence is the Shepherd, the stone of Israel." We may be quite sure that he who deigns to be a shepherd to his people will not turn a deaf ear to their complaints. "Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock." The people are called here by the name of that renowned son who became a second father to the tribes, and kept them alive in Egypt; possibly they were known to the Egyptians under the name of "the family of Joseph, "and if so, it seems most natural to call them by that name in this place. The term may, however, refer to the ten tribes of which Manasseh was the acknowledged head. The Lord had of old in the wilderness led, guided, shepherded all the tribes; and, therefore, the appeal is made to him. The Lord's doings in the past are strong grounds for appeal and expectation as to the present and the future. "Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth." The Lord's especial presence was revealed upon the mercyseat between the cherubim, and in all our pleadings we should come to the Lord by this way: only upon the mercyseat will God reveal his grace, and only there can we hope to commune with him. Let us ever plead the name of Jesus, who is our true mercyseat, to whom we may come boldly, and through whom we may look for a display of the glory of the Lord on our behalf. Our greatest dread is the withdrawal of the Lord's presence, and our brightest hope is the prospect of his return. In the darkest times of Israel, the light of her Shepherd's countenance is all she needs.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
O Shepherd of Israel - The subject continued from the last verse of the preceding Psalm. Leadest Joseph - Israel and Joseph mean here the whole of the Jewish tribes; all were at this time in captivity; all had been the people of the Lord; all, no doubt, made supplication unto him now that his chastening hand was upon them; and for all the psalmist makes supplication. That dwellest between the cherubims - It was between the cherubim, over the cover of the ark, called the propitiatory or mercy-seat, that the glory of the Lord, or symbol of the Divine Presence, appeared. It is on this account that the Lord is so often said to dwell between the cherubim. Of these symbolical beings there is a long and painful account, or system of conjectures, in Parkhurst’s Hebrew Lexicon, of about twenty quarto pages, under the word כרב carab. Shine forth - Restore thy worship; and give us such evidences of thy presence now, as our fathers had under the first tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple built by Solomon.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Give ear - Incline the ear; as if the ear of God was then turned away, or as if he was inattentive to what was occurring. See the notes at Psa 5:1. O Shepherd of Israel. See the notes at Psa 23:1. Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock - Joseph, the father of Ephraim and Manasseh. See the notes at Psa 78:67. The name Joseph seems here to be used poetically to represent the whole people of Israel, as he was a man so prominent in their history, and especially as Egypt is mentioned as the country from which the vine had been transplanted - a country where Joseph had acted so important a part, and in connection with which his name would be so naturally associated. The meaning is, that God had led the tribes of the Hebrew people as a shepherd leads or conducts his flock. Thou that dwellest between the cherubims - See the notes at Psa 18:10. The allusion here is to God as dwelling, by a visible symbol - the Shechinah - on the mercy-seat, between the cherubims. Exo 25:18, Exo 25:22; Exo 37:7; 1Sa 4:4; 1Ki 6:25. See the notes at Isa 37:16; and notes at Heb 9:5. “Shine, forth.” Manifest thyself. Let light come from thy presence in the midst of our darkness and calamity.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רֹ֘עֵ֤ה | roeh | O shepherd of | H7462 → | 177 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֨ל׀ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| הַאֲזִ֗ינָה | haazinah | give ear ! | H238 → | 41 times |
| נֹהֵ֣ג | noheg | O [you who] lead | H5090 → | 31 times |
| כַּצֹּ֣אן | katzon | like <the> flock | H6629 → | 274 times |
| יוֹסֵ֑ף | yosef | Joseph | H3130 → | 213 times |
| יֹשֵׁ֖ב | yoshev | O [you who] sit | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| הַכְּרוּבִ֣ים | hakeruvim | the cherubim | H3742 → | 91 times |
| הוֹפִֽיעָה׃ | hofiah | shine forth ! | H3313 → | 8 times |
רֹ֘עֵ֤הO shepherd of
roehH7462 →177 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֨ל׀Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
הַאֲזִ֗ינָהgive ear !
haazinahH238 →41 times
נֹהֵ֣גO [you who] lead
nohegH5090 →31 times
כַּצֹּ֣אןlike <the> flock
katzonH6629 →274 times
יוֹסֵ֑ףJoseph
yosefH3130 →213 times
יֹשֵׁ֖בO [you who] sit
yoshevH3427 →1079 times
הַכְּרוּבִ֣יםthe cherubim
hakeruvimH3742 →91 times
הוֹפִֽיעָה׃shine forth !
hofiahH3313 →8 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
Revelation 21:23And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.
it leads to
- Isaiah 60:19–20
No longer will the sun be your light by day, nor the brightness of the moon shine on your night; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your…
- Revelation 22:5
There will be no more night in the city, and they will have no need for the light of a lamp or of the sun. For the Lord God will shine on them, and…
- John 1:9
The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world.
- Revelation 21:11
shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal.
- Isaiah 60:19–20
Through
Psalms 77:20You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
it leads to
- Exodus 13:21
And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel…
- Exodus 13:21
Through
Psalms 50:2From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.
it leads to
- Revelation 21:23
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.
- Psalms 48:2
Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.
- Revelation 21:23
Through
Psalms 99:1The LORD reigns; let the nations tremble! He is enthroned above the cherubim; let the earth quake!
it leads to
- Psalms 97:1
The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the distant shores be glad.
- Psalms 97:1
Where this verse is studied
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1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 34; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.