聖書注解書

詩篇作者は、先行する二つの詩篇で、特に教会に対する神の取り扱いにおいて、神の知恵、力、慈しみを讃えた。ここでは、とりわけ苦境にある時の、人間の子ら全般に対する神の摂理的配慮のいくつかの実例に目を留める。というのも神は聖徒の王であるだけでなく、国々の王であり、イスラエルの神であるだけでなく全地の神であり、すべての人類に対する共通の父だからである。これは特に個人の資格におけるイスラエル人を指すかもしれないが、イスラエルの国に属さずともまことの神を礼拝する人々がいた。そして偶像を礼拝する人々でさえ、至高の「神性」についての知識をある程度持っており、真剣な時には、すべての偽りの神々の上にその方を仰いでいた。そしてこれらの人々が苦境で祈った時、神は彼らを特別に顧みてくださった。詩篇作者は人間の生涯における最も一般的な災いのいくつかを具体的に挙げ、祈りに応えて神がその下にある者たちをいかに助けられるかを示す。1. 追放と離散（詩107:2-9）。2. 捕囚と投獄（詩107:10-16）。3. 病とからだの不調（詩107:17-22）。4. 海上の危険と苦境（詩107:23-32）。これらは、神に呼び求める者が常に神をすぐ近くにいる助けとして見いだしてきた、すべての類する危難の代わりとされる。二、彼は国々と家族に関する事象の多様性と変遷を具体的に挙げる。そのすべてにおいて神の御手が、ご自身の民によって喜ばしい神の慈しみの認識と共に見られるべきである（詩107:33-43）。私たちがこれらや類する苦境のいずれかにある時、適用しながらこの詩篇を歌うことは慰めとなる。しかし私たちがそうでなくとも、他の者がそうであり、そうであったのであり、その救いについて神に栄光を帰すことは私たちにふさわしい。私たちは互いに一つのからだの肢体なのだから。

この詩篇には表題がなく、その作者も不明である。それが作られた機会は特に示されていないが、Psalm 107:2-3 から判断して、それは追放あるいは捕囚からの帰還の際であった可能性が高い。これがバビロン捕囚からの帰還であり、この詩篇が復興後の神殿の再奉献において用いられることを意図していたという想定を禁じるものは、この詩篇の中には何もない。そのすべての部分がそのような機会にふさわしいものであろうし、これほど重要な出来事がふさわしい賛美の歌をもって祝われるであろうことは、あらゆる点からあり得ることである。

この詩篇の「目的」は、実践的な意味を持つ限りにおいて、Psalm 107:8、Psalm 107:15、Psalm 107:21、Psalm 107:31 において、それらの節の中で繰り返されている言葉、すなわち「ああ、人々が主の恵みのゆえに、また人の子らに対するその奇しいみわざのゆえに、主をほめたたえるように」という言葉によって示されている。この詩篇の目的は、神のこれらの「みわざ」、あるいは「行い」を、人々を賛美と崇敬へと導くように提示することである。

この詩篇はその構造において非常に規則的である。最初の三つの節は序論であり、神を賛美するよう特に召されている民を指し示すことを意図している。すなわち、敵の手から贖い出され、諸国の地から集められた者たち――東からも、西からも、北からも、南からも――である。

詩篇の残りの部分は、上の言葉、「ああ、人々が主の恵みのゆえに主をほめたたえるように」等によって区切られる諸部分に分かたれている（Psalm 107:8、Psalm 107:15、Psalm 107:21、Psalm 107:31）。これらの部分は長さが等しくなく、この言葉は（いくつかの適切な語を添えて）、「各部分の終わりに」、先行する諸々の考えによって示唆されたものとして置かれている。しかし最後の部分、すなわち Psalm 107:32-43 においては、この言葉は用いられておらず、他の場合における「願い」の表現は、知恵ある者たちがみな「これらのことを心に留め」、「主の恵みを悟る」であろうという「断言」へと変えられている。

この詩篇の個々の部分は次の通りである。

I. 主に贖われた者たちが荒野にあってさまよい、飢え渇き、住むべき町を持たなかったこと、そして、そのような中で主に呼ばわり求めたので、主が彼らを聞き、正しく安全な道に導かれたことへの言及。「このこと」のゆえに詩篇作者は、「人々が主の恵みのゆえに主をほめたたえるように」という願いを表している（Psalm 107:4-9）。

II. 暗黒と死の陰に座り、苦しみと鉄とによって縛られている者たちに神が善意を示されたことへの言及であり、奴隷状態の時代の神の民がその罪のゆえに打ち倒され、罰せられ、そのとき苦しみの中で主に呼ばわり求めたので、主が彼らをその暗黒と死の陰から連れ出し、その縛めを打ち砕かれたことによって例示されている。「このこと」のゆえに詩篇作者は、「人々が主の恵みのゆえに主をほめたたえるように」という願いを表している（Psalm 107:10-16）。

III. 神の民のために行われた救出への言及。彼らは罪を犯し、その愚かさを示し、死の門にまで近づいた。そして彼らは主に叫び、主はみことばを送って彼らをいやされた。「このこと」のゆえに詩篇作者は、「人々が主の恵みのゆえに主をほめたたえるように」という願いを表している（Psalm 107:17-22）。

IV. 船で海に下り、大水の上で商いをする者たちに対して示された主の善意への言及。彼らは深い所で主の奇しいみわざを見る。彼らは嵐と暴風に出会う。彼らは波の上で天にまで上げられ、それからそれに相当する深さまで沈む。彼らは酔った人のようにふらふらとよろめく。そしてそのとき彼らは主に叫び、主は彼らを聞かれ、海を静かにされ、彼らを望みの港に導かれる。「このこと」のゆえに詩篇作者は、「人々が主の恵みのゆえに主をほめたたえるように」という願いを表している（Psalm 107:23-32）。

V. 人々の住む場所を備えられることにおける主の善意への言及。すなわち、川々を荒野に変え、水の源を干上がった地とし、荒野を溜め水とし、干上がった地を水の源とすること。また、人々が地の上に住み、畑に種を蒔き、ぶどう畑を植えることができるように取り計らわれること――貧しい者を苦しみから高い所に置き、彼らを羊の群れのような家族とされること。「このこと」と、神がなさる「すべてのこと」に関して、詩篇作者はこの詩篇の結びにおいて、「賢く、これらのことを心に留める者はみな、主の恵みを悟るであろう」と述べている（Psalm 107:33-43）。

A thanksgiving of the people for deliverance from difficulties and dangers; their state compared to a journey through a frightful wilderness, Psalm 107:1-9; to confinement in a dreary dungeon, Psalm 107:10-16; to a dangerous malady, Psalm 107:17-22; to a tempest at sea, Psalm 107:23-32. The psalmist calls on men to praise God for the merciful dispensations of his providence, in giving rain and fruitful seasons, after affliction by drought and famine, Psalm 107:33-38; for supporting the poor in affliction, and bringing down the oppressors, Psalm 107:39-41. The use which the righteous should make of these providences, Psalm 107:42; and the advantage to be derived from a due consideration of God's merciful providence, Psalm 107:43.

This Psalm has no title, either in the Hebrew, or any of the Versions; the word "Hallelujah," which is prefixed to some of the latter, is no title, but was most probably borrowed from the conclusion of the preceding Psalm. The author is unknown; but it was probably like Psalm 105 and 106, made and sung at the dedication of the second temple. The three Psalms seem to be on the same subject. In them the author has comprised the marvellous acts of the Lord towards his people; the transgressions of this people against God; the captivities and miseries they endured in consequence; and finally God's merciful kindness to them in their restoration from captivity, and re-establishment in their own land.

This Psalm seems to have been sung in parts: the Psalm 107:8, Psalm 107:15, Psalm 107:21, and Psalm 107:31, with the Psalm 107:6, Psalm 107:13, Psalm 107:19, and Psalm 107:28, forming what may be called the burden of the song. In singing of which the whole chorus joined.

We may easily perceive that the Psalm must have been sung in alternate parts, having a double burden, or intercalary verse often recurring, and another immediately following, giving a reason for the former. See the Psalm 107:8 and Psalm 107:9, the Psalm 107:15 and Psalm 107:16, the Psalm 107:21 and Psalm 107:22, the Psalm 107:31 and Psalm 107:32, and the Psalm 107:42 and Psalm 107:43, which may be reckoned under the same denomination. Dr. Lowth, in his 29th prelection, has made some excellent remarks on this Psalm. "It is observable," says he, "that after each of the intercalary verses one is added, expressive of deliverance or praise. I would farther observe, that if the Psalm be supposed to be made with a view to the alternate response of one side of the choir to the other, then it may be considered as if it were written exactly after the method of the ancient pastorals, where, be the subject of their verse what it will, each swain endeavors to excel the other; and one may perceive their thoughts and expressions gradually to arise upon each other; and hence a manifest beauty may be discovered in this Divine pastoral. We will suppose, then, that the author composed it for the use of his brethren the Jews, when, in the joy of their hearts, they were assembled after their return from captivity. At such a time, what theme could be so proper for the subject of his poem, as the manifest goodness of Almighty God? The first performers, therefore, invite the whole nation to praise God for this; a great instance of it being their late return from captivity. At Psalm 107:10, the other side take the subject, and rightly observe that the return of their great men, who were actually in chains, was a more remarkable instance of God's mercy to them, than the return of the people in general, who were only dispersed, we may suppose, up and down the open country. Then the first performers beautitully compare this unexpected deliverance to that which God sometimes vouchsafes to the languishing dying man, when he recalls, as it were, the sentence of death, and restores him to his former vigor. The others again compare it, with still greater strength and expression, to God's delivering the affrighted mariner from all the dreadful horrors of the ungovernable and arbitrary ocean. But the first, still resolved to outdo the rest, recur to that series of wonderful works which God had vouchsafed to their nation, Psalm 107:32, and of which they had so lately such a convincing proof. Wherefore at last, as in a common chorus, they all conclude with exhorting each other to a serious consideration of these things, and to make a proper return to Almighty God for them.

"No doubt the composition of this Psalm is admirable throughout; and the descriptive part of it adds at least its share of beauty to the whole; but what is most to be admired is its conciseness, and withal the expressiveness of the diction, which strikes the imagination with inimitable elegance. The weary and bewildered traveler, the miserable captive in the hideous dungeon, the sick and dying man, the seaman foundering in a storm, are described in so affecting a manner, that they far exceed any thing of the kind, though never so much labored." I may add that had such an Idyl appeared in Theocritus or Virgil, or had it been found as a scene in any of the Greek tragedians, even in Aeschylus himself, it would have been praised up to the heavens, and probably been produced as their master-piece.

INTRODUCTION TO Psalm 107

This psalm, from its style, and from its connection with the preceding psalms, seems to have been written by David. The two foregoing psalms respect the children of Israel; this is generally thought to concern all mankind, and its view to assert a general providence which attends all, in whatsoever condition and circumstance; and to encourage men in their distresses to cry unto the Lord. According to Kimchi, Aben Ezra, and others, four sorts of persons are mentioned, travellers through a wilderness, prisoners, sick persons, and such who use the seas; to which some add a fifth, husbandmen; these are instanced in, not to the exclusion of others, but from them it may be concluded that whatsoever state or condition persons may be in, they are known and taken notice of by the Lord, and are relieved by him when they call upon him. Some restrain the whole to the Israelites, as the Targum, R. Obadiah, Arama, and others, where they make any application; and others apply the psalm to New Testament times; and indeed, though the literal sense should be attended unto and preserved, yet it seems to be applicable to spiritual persons and things. The title of it in the Syriac version is pretty remarkable,

"it is said concerning Joab and Abiah the sons of Samuel, who recited the commandments of the Lord. God gathered the Jews out of captivity, and brought them out from Babylon. Also the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, gathered the Gentiles from the four corners of the world, by preaching to baptism.''.

Book V.

CVII.

Two widely different accounts have been given of this psalm; one, that it describes historically the dangers and sufferings of the return from captivity, and the Divine power and guidance which brought the redeemed safely through them; the other, that it presents a general picture or group of pictures of the vicissitudes of human life and the interposition of Divine Providence. The true explanation probably lies intermediate between these two. Psalm 107:2-3 leave no room for question that the poet had the Return primarily in his mind. Indications in the same direction are supplied by the many expressions and figures taken from the later chapters of Isaiah, among which is prominent the phrase “the redeemed of Jehovah.” But, on the other hand, the series of vivid pictures of which the greater part of the poem is composed are not directly historical, notably the sea-piece (Psalm 107:23-32).

While, therefore, the psalm may properly be regarded as a lyric embodiment of the lessons of the Captivity, it applies these lessons to the human lot generally, and travels over the whole experience of human life for the pictures under which it presents them. The fortunes of his own race were uppermost in the psalmist’s mind, but the perils depicted are typical of the straits into which men of all lands and all times are driven; and he had learnt that the goodness and wisdom which at the cry of prayer come to extricate and save are not confined to one race, but are universal and continuous.

Critics unite in assigning a late date for the composition of this poem, and no one doubts that it was intended for liturgic use. The beautiful double refrain marks the division of its somewhat irregular versification.

Of the unity of the poem there is considerable doubt. The piece beginning at Psalm 107:33 is not only in form very different from the first, but bears marks of greatly inferior poetical power. (See Note to Psalm 107:33.)

THE PSALMS

BOOK V

Psalms 107-150

This Psalm is a call to thanksgiving addressed to the returned exiles, and enforced by various instances of Jehovah’s goodness to men in the manifold perils of life.

i. Introduction (Psalm 107:1-3). The prayer of Psalm 106:47 has been answered. Israel has been ransomed from captivity, and brought back from the lands of exile to its own land. The Psalmist calls upon “Jehovah’s redeemed ones” to unite in offering to Him the thanksgiving which was contemplated (Psalm 106:47 c, d) as the object of their restoration.

ii. A scries of four pictures follows (Psalm 107:4-32) vividly representing the goodness of Jehovah in delivering men from the extremity of trouble and danger in answer to their prayers. Each strophe is symmetrically constructed. First there is a description of the sufferers’ plight; then their cry for help and its answer; then a call to thanksgiving, supplemented in Psalm 107:9; Psalm 107:16 by the reason for it, in Psalm 107:22; Psalm 107:32 by an amplification of the appeal. The double refrain with its variations (Psalm 107:6-9; Psalms 13-16; Psalms 19-22; Psalms 28-32) is strikingly effective.

1. Travellers through the desert who have lost their way and are on the point of perishing from hunger and thirst are guided to an inhabited city (Psalm 107:4-9).

2. Prisoners in the dungeon, or exiles who are like prisoners, suffering the punishment of their transgressions, are released (Psalm 107:10-16).

3. Sick men, whose sickness is a chastisement for their sin, are restored to health (Psalm 107:17-22).

4. Sailors, all but wrecked in a terrific storm, are brought safe to their destination (Psalm 107:23-32).

iii. Here the structure and subject change. The refrains disappear, and in place of the vivid pictures of life we have the Psalmist’s reflections on the vicissitudes in the fortunes of countries and of men regarded as a proof of the providential government of the world.

1. Jehovah smites a fruitful land with barrenness for the wickedness of its inhabitants, and transforms a wilderness into a fertile home for the poor and needy (Psalm 107:33-38).

2. If they are oppressed He defends them, and confounds their oppressors, to the joy of the righteous, and the discomfiture of the wicked (Psalm 107:39-42).

iv. The Psalm ends with an exhortation to mark and ponder such facts as these which are proofs of Jehovah’s lovingkindness (Psalm 107:43).

The connexion of the central part of the Psalm with the introduction requires some further consideration. The pictures which it contains are scenes from real life, chosen to illustrate God’s goodness in answering men’s prayers in circumstances of trial and suffering, and to enforce the duty of thanksgiving. But since the Psalm opens with an exhortation to the returned exiles, it can hardly be doubted that they are meant to see in these pictures not only general proofs of God’s goodness, but illustrations of their own experience. Israel had been on the point of perishing in the great desert of the world. It had been imprisoned for its transgressions in the gloomy dungeon of exile, and had lain there crushed and hopeless. It had been sick unto death through its own sin. It had been all but swallowed up in the vast sea of the nations. The scenes are at once fact and figure; scenes from life, yet intended to represent Israel’s experience. This is especially clear in Psalm 107:10-16, where some touches are obviously national not personal.

The unity of the Psalm has been called in question. It has been suggested that Psalm 107:1-3 are an introduction, prefixed to a Psalm of more general import, in order to adapt it for liturgical use: and again that Psalm 107:33-43 are an appendix, attached to the original Psalm by a later and inferior poet. The suggestion is plausible but unnecessary. The connexion between the introduction and the main part of the Psalm is intelligible, and the main part of the Psalm is suitable to the circumstances of the returned exiles; while the latter part, if (to our taste) somewhat inferior in form and vigour, offers consolation and encouragement to them in view of the vicissitudes of fortune to which they had been or were likely to be exposed. It has moreover links of connexion in style and language with the earlier part: Psalm 107:36 for example refers back to Psalm 107:4-5 : and the dependence on Job and Isaiah 40-66, which is a marked feature of the earlier part, is even more noticeable here. It is however curious that Psalm 107:23-28; Psalm 107:40 are to be marked, according to Massoretic tradition, with ‘inverted nûns’ [i.e. the letter n, נ], which are supposed to be the equivalent of brackets, and to mark some dislocation of the text or uncertainty in regard to it. Why Psalm 107:23-28 should be so marked is not obvious, but it is not improbable that Psalm 107:39-40 should be transposed. See Ginsburg, Introd. to Heb. Bible, pp. 341 ff.

The Psalm plainly belongs to the post-exilic period, but to what part of it is uncertain. Its tone however would seem to point to the restoration being still comparatively recent.

Notwithstanding the division of the books, it is closely related to the preceding Psalms. Psalms 105, 106, 107 may be said to form a trilogy. Psalms 105 celebrates God’s goodness in the choice of Israel and the deliverance from Egypt: Psalms 106 is a confession of Israel’s obstinate rebellion against God’s purpose for it: Psalms 107 is a call to thanksgiving for its restoration from exile. They refer, broadly speaking, to three successive periods of the national history. The first contains the fulfilment of the promise, “He gave them the lands of the nations” (Psalm 105:44): the second contains the warning that “He would scatter them in the lands” (Psalm 106:27); the third relates the restoration, “He gathered them out of the lands” (Psalm 107:3). The refrain of Psalm 107:6; Psalm 107:13; Psalm 107:19; Psalm 107:28 is an echo of Psalm 106:44 : with Psalm 107:2 cp. Psalm 106:10; with Psalm 107:11 cp. Psalm 106:13; Psalm 106:33; Psalm 106:43; with Psalm 107:20 cp. Psalm 105:19.

Ps 107:1-43.

本篇の一般的な主題は、捕囚からの回復におけるイスラエルへの特別な神の恵みによって示唆された可能性があるが、さまざまな緊急事態におけるすべての人への神のあわれみ深い摂理をたたえる教訓的な賛美として扱われなければならない。これらのうち幾つかが挙げられる。すなわち、捕囚と奴隷、陸と海のさまよい、飢饉である。あるものは神の不満のしるしとして、すべての救出は、へりくだって神を求める者への神の善良さとあわれみの証拠として。

1, 2. この感謝の賛美の呼びかけが burden あるいは合唱である（比較せよ、

Ps 107:8, 15、

等）。

主に感謝をささげよ。主は良い方であられるからである――Psalm 106:1 の注解を参照せよ。

その恵みはとこしえまで続くからである――主はその恵みにおいて不変である。恵みは神の本質そのものの属性である。神は絶えずそれを現しておられる。しかし、ここで「恵み」と訳されている語――חסד chesed――は、私たちの語「憐れみ（mercy）」よりも、その意味するところがより一般的である。私たちの語は「罪ある者に示される好意」を意味するが、このヘブル語は、一般に、親切、善良、慈愛を意味する。私たちの前にあるこの詩でほめたたえられているのは、まさにこれである。