Psalm 5:5

The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) Foolish.—Literally, shiners—i.e., displayers of self; or, perhaps, self-praisers, boasters.

Shall not stand.—As distinguished men before kings (Proverbs 22:29); as angels in the court of the heavenly King (Job 1:6).

Benson Commentary

Psalm 5:5-6. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight — Literally, The mad shall not stand before thine eyes; shall not be admitted to attend upon thee, nor shall they be acquitted at the judgment of the great day. The word הוללים, holelim, here rendered the foolish, properly signifies the madmen, as the learned reader may see by consulting Ecclesiastes 2:2; Ecclesiastes 2:12; Ecclesiastes 7:7; Ecclesiastes 10:13; Isaiah 44:25. Wicked men are intended, as the next clause explains it; who are indeed morally and really madmen, in that they oppose and fight against Omnipotence, and voluntarily expose themselves to such dreadful miseries as are implied in everlasting banishment from God, for such mean and momentary gains or pleasures as are found in sin. Thou shalt destroy — With an everlasting destruction from thy presence, and the glory of thy power, them that speak leasing — Or falsehood, that continue so to do, and will not be reformed: that are void of integrity and veracity, or who suffer themselves to be employed by the father of lies in spreading calumnies and slanders. The Lord will abhor the bloody man also — That is, the passionate, the malicious, the implacable. For inhumanity, cruelty, and revenge are no less contrary, no less hateful to the God of mercy, than deceit, lies, and slanders are to the God of truth.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:1-6 God is a prayer-hearing God. Such he has always been, and he is still as ready to hear prayer as ever. The most encouraging principle of prayer, and the most powerful plea in prayer, is, to look upon him as our King and our God. David also prays to a sin-hating God. sin is folly, and sinners are the greatest of all fools; fools of their own making. Wicked people hate God; justly are they hated of him, and this will be their endless misery and ruin. Let us learn the importance of truth and sincerity, in all the affairs of life. Liars and murderers resemble the devil, and are his children, therefore it may well be expected that God should abhor them. These were the characters of David's enemies; and such as these are still the enemies of Christ and his people.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The foolish - Referring still to his enemies, as having this character, and urging the fact that they "had" such a character as a reason why God should hear him, and deliver him. The word "foolish" here, הוללים hôleliym, is used to denote the wicked, under the common idea in the Scriptures that sin is folly. Compare Psalm 14:1. It is rendered by Prof. Alexander, "the proud" or "insolent." The Aramaic renders it "deriders;" Latin Vulgate: "unjust;" Septuagint "transgressors;" Gesenius, Lexicon, "proud." So DeWette. The common idea, however, is the correct one, referring to the wicked under the idea that they were "fools," as all sin is supreme folly.

Shall not stand in thy sight - Shall not be allowed to be in thy presence; that is, thou wilt not approve their cause, or favor them. See the notes at Psalm 1:5.

Thou hatest all workers of iniquity - All that do wrong. He refers here, also, to a general characteristic of God, but still with an implied and immediate reference to his enemies as sustaining this character, and as a reason why he appealed to God to defend his cause. Nothing is more constantly affirmed in the Scriptures than that God hates all forms of evil.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5. foolish—vainglorious and insolent.

iniquity—especially such as denotes a negation, or defect, that is, of moral principle.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The foolish; or, the madmen, as the word properly signifies, as Ecclesiastes 2:2,12 7:7 10:13 Isaiah 44:25, i.e. wicked men, as the next words explain it; who are indeed morally and really madmen, in fighting with the Lord God Almighty, and in exposing themselves to such dreadful hazards and mischiefs for such mean and momentary advantages. In thy sight; either in battle against thee, as this phrase is used, Deu 7:24 Joshua 1:5 7:12; or in judgement at thy tribunal, of which see on Psalm 1:5: compare 1 Samuel 6:20 Job 41:10.

All workers of iniquity, i.e. such as make sin their choice, design, and business, giving up themselves to the constant or customary practice of it. Compare Matthew 7:23. Otherwise, in a general sense, there is no man that doth not sin or work iniquity, Ecclesiastes 7:20.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The foolish shall not stand in thy sight,.... By the "foolish" are meant not such who are so in a natural, but in a moral sense, wicked and ungodly men. The Septuagint render the word, "transgressors of the law"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "the unrighteous"; and the Arabic version, "they that contradict thy precepts". The word (h) used comes from a root which signifies to "praise"; and may design such as are praisers of themselves, proud boasters; who are elated with their own excellencies, with their wisdom, strength, honours, riches, and righteousness, and treat all others with contempt; for though they are unrighteous, yet they trust in themselves that they are righteous, and despise others, which betrays their folly; hence the Syriac version renders it, "the proud"; and the Chaldee paraphrase, "mockers". And their not standing in the sight of God denotes his abhorrence and detestation of them; as when one man abhors another he cannot endure to look upon him, or bear to have him in his presence: and it shows that such shall receive no favour from him; for though, like proud Haman, they may think themselves his favourites, and they are the persons the king will delight to honour; yet to their great mortification they will find, that a poor Mordecai, a mean despicable believer, will be preferred unto them. Nor shall they stand in acceptance and confidence before him at the day of judgment: they will not be able to stand themselves, but will call to the rocks and mountains to cover them; and they will not be suffered lost and, but will be driven from the presence of the Lord into everlasting burnings,

thou hatest all workers of iniquity; not all that have sin in them or do sin, for there are none without it; but such who give themselves up to work wickedness, who make it the business of their lives, and are slaves unto it, living in a continued series and course of impiety; and this character does not only belong to openly profane sinners, but to some professors of religion; see Matthew 7:22; and these are the objects of God's hatred. Which does not so much intend any past act of his, the preterition or passing them by, when he chose others in his eternal purposes; in which sense the word is used in Romans 9:13, as his continued aversion to them, denying them his grace and favour, and rejecting them from all nearness to him and communion with him; and may include the everlasting punishment of them, by which his displicine and hatred will be made manifest: and he is impartial in it, without any respect to persons, high or low, rich or poor; indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, will come upon every soul of man that does evil. God's love to his own people was antecedent to sin, and was placed upon them in Christ, in whom their persons are always well pleasing to him; and though they sinned in Adam, and became actual transgressors of his law, yet such was his love to their persons, that he saves them from their sins by the blood and righteousness of his son.

(h) "jactitantes", Gejerus; "insane gloriosi", Michaelis; so Ainsworth.

Geneva Study Bible

{d} The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

(d) Who run blindly after their carnal desires.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5, 6. Various classes of evil doers. The foolish, or rather the arrogant, a word denoting boastful blustering presumption rather than folly; cp. Psalm 73:3, Psalm 75:4 : workers of iniquity, the standing expression in the Psalms for those who make a practice of what is morally worthless (cp. John 3:20; John 5:29); those ‘that speak lies’ (for leasing see on Psalm 4:2); cp. Psalm 58:3, Psalm 7:14 : men of bloodshed and deceit, who do not shrink from murder and that by treachery, in fact the Shimeis and Doegs and Ahithophels and Joabs of David’s time.

shall not stand in thy sight] This may simply mean that they cannot impose upon God. He passes judgement on their hollow pretensions (cp. Psalm 1:5), and they shrink away condemned. But the idea is probably rather of courtiers standing in the presence of a monarch. Cp. Proverbs 22:29; Psalm 101:7; and the picture of the heavenly council in Job 1:6; Job 2:1.

will abhor] Abhorreth; a strong word: abominates, as something wholly unnatural and detestable.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 5. - The foolish (or, the arrogant - "the boasters") shall not stand in thy light. Rather shall they be cast down and dismayed (Psalm 73:3, 18). Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. David has in mind the wicked and presumptuous men who have handed themselves together against him, and "take his contrary part" (Psalm 109:3, Prayer-book Version). These he is sure that God hates. Psalm 5:5

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 5:5-7) The basing of the prayer on God's holiness. The verbal adjective חפץ (coming from the primitive signification of adhering firmly which is still preserved in Arab. chfd, fut. i.) is in the sing. always (Psalm 34:13; Psalm 35:27) joined with the accusative. רע is conceived as a person, for although גּוּר may have a material object, it cannot well have a material subject. יגרך is used for brevity of expression instead of יגוּר עמּך (Ges. 121, 4). The verb גּוּר (to turn in, to take up one's abode with or near any one) frequently has an accusative object, Psalm 120:5, Judges 5:17, and Isaiah 33:14 according to which the light of the divine holiness is to sinners a consuming fire, which they cannot endure. Now there follow specific designations of the wicked. הוללים part. Kal equals hōlalim, or even Poal equals hôlalim ( equals מהוללים),

(Note: On the rule, according to which here, as in שׁוררי Psalm 5:9 and the like, a simple Sheb mobile goes over into Chateph pathach with Gaja preceding it, vid., the observations on giving a faithful representation of the O.T. text according to the Masora in the Luther Zeitschr. 1863. S. 411. The Babylonian Ben-Naphtali (about 940) prefers the simple Sheb in such cases, as also in others; Ben-Asher of the school of Tiberias, whom the Masora follows, and whom consequently our Masoretic text ought to follow, prefers the Chateph, vid., Psalter ii.-460-467.)

are the foolish, and more especially foolish boasters; the primary notion of the verb is not that of being hollow, but that of sounding, then of loud boisterous, non-sensical behaviour. Of such it is said, that they are not able to maintain their position when they become manifest before the eye of God (לנגד as in Psalm 101:7 manifest before any one, from נגד to come forward, be visible far off, be distinctly visible). פעלי און are those who work (οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι Matthew 7:23) iniquity; און breath (ἄνεμος) is sometimes trouble, in connection with which one pants, sometimes wickedness, in which there is not even a trace of any thing noble, true, or pure. Such men Jahve hates; for if He did not hate evil (Psalm 11:5), His love would not be a holy love. In דּברי כזב, דּברי is the usual form in combination when the plur. is used, instead of מדבּרי. It is the same in Psalm 58:4. The style of expression is also Davidic in other respects, viz., אישׁ דּמים וּמרמה as in Psalm 55:24, and אבּד as in Psalm 9:6, cf. Psalm 21:11. תּעב (in Amos, Amos 6:8 תּאב) appears to be a secondary formation from עוּב, like תּאב to desire, from אבה, and therefore to be of a cognate root with the Aram. עיּב to despise, treat with indignity, and the Arabic ‛aib a stain (cf. on Lamentations 2:1). The fact that, as Hengstenberg has observed, wickedness and the wicked are described in a sevenfold manner is perhaps merely accidental.