Psalm 79:12

And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(12) Neighbours.—The sharpest pang of the suffering came from the taunts of “neighbours. (See Psalm 79:4.)

Sevenfold.—As in Genesis 4:15. We naturally contrast the law of Christian forgiveness.

Into their bosom.—The deep folds of the Eastern dress were used as a pocket. (Comp. Ruth 3:15; Isaiah 65:7; Jeremiah 32:18; Luke 6:38, &c)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

79:6-13 Those who persist in ignorance of God, and neglect of prayer, are the ungodly. How unrighteous soever men were, the Lord was righteous in permitting them to do what they did. Deliverances from trouble are mercies indeed, when grounded upon the pardon of sin; we should therefore be more earnest in prayer for the removal of our sins than for the removal of afflictions. They had no hopes but from God's mercies, his tender mercies. They plead no merit, they pretend to none, but, Help us for the glory of thy name; pardon us for thy name's sake. The Christian forgets not that he is often bound in the chain of his sins. The world to him is a prison; sentence of death is passed upon him, and he knows not how soon it may be executed. How fervently should he at all times pray, O let the sighing of a prisoner come before thee, according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die! How glorious will the day be, when, triumphant over sin and sorrow, the church beholds the adversary disarmed for ever! while that church shall, from age to age, sing the praises of her great Shepherd and Bishop, her King and her God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And render unto our neighbors - That is, the neighbors who had reproached them; the surrounding people who had seen these calamities come upon them, and who had regarded these calamities as proof that their God was unable to protect them, or that they were suffering under his displeasure. See the notes at Psalm 79:4. "Sevenfold." Seven times the amount of reproach which they have heaped upon us. The word seven is often used to denote many, as seven was one of the perfect numbers. The idea is that of complete or full vengeance. Compare Genesis 4:15, Genesis 4:24; Proverbs 6:31; Isaiah 30:26; Matthew 18:21-22; Luke 17:4.

Into their bosom ... - Perhaps the allusion here is to the custom of carrying things in the bosom of the flowing dress as it was girded around the loins. "Let them be made to carry with them seven times the amount of reproach which they have endeavored to heap on us."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12. into their bosom—The lap or folds of the dress is used by Eastern people for receiving articles. The figure denotes retaliation (compare Isa 65:6, 7). They reproached God as well as His people.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Sevenfold, i.e. either,

1. Abundantly, as this phrase notes, Isaiah 65:6,7 Jer 32:18 Luke 6:38. Or,

2. Sensibly, so as it may come home to them, and fall heavily upon them in their own persons. Reproached thee, as impotent, or unfaithful, or unmerciful to his own people. So they intimate that this desire did not proceed from a revengeful mind, but from a due sense of God’s favour.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And render unto our neighbours seven fold into their bosom, Not seven fold for one, as the Targum paraphrases it, or a seven fold punishment for one sin; but that he would recompense their sins, or punish for them, and take vengeance on them, largely, abundantly, though not beyond measure, or exceeding the rules of justice; see Genesis 4:15,

the reproach with which they have reproached thee, O Lord; by denying his being, or calling in question his perfections of power, truth, and goodness, to help his people; speaking ill of his providence, despising his word and ordinances, and even reproaching his people in reproaching him, Psalm 89:50, and this is what a righteous recompence is desired for; see Lamentations 3:64.

Geneva Study Bible

And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12. our neighbours] Cp. Psalm 79:4 : the nations around, such as the Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites, which instead of sympathising rejoiced at Israel’s calamity. Cp. Ezekiel 25.

sevenfold] Cp. Genesis 4:15; and contrast Christ’s law of forgiveness, Matthew 18:22.

into their bosom] A metaphor from the practice of carrying articles in the folds of the dress. It further suggests the idea of full and intimate recompence. Cp. Isaiah 65:6; Jeremiah 32:18; Luke 6:38.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 12. - And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord. (For the "reproach" intended, see ver. 10.) The whole passage means, "Punish them seven times as much as thou hast punished us." Then their reproach will be seven times as great. Psalm 79:12

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The victory of the world is indeed not God's aim; therefore His own honour does not suffer that the world of which He has made use in order to chasten His people should for ever haughtily triumph. שׁמך is repeated with emphasis at the end of the petition in Psalm 79:9, according to the figure epanaphora. על־דּבר equals למען, as in Psalm 45:5, cf. Psalm 7:1, is a usage even of the language of the Pentateuch. Also the motive, "wherefore shall they say?" occurs even in the Tפra (Exodus 32:12, cf. Numbers 14:13-17; Deuteronomy 9:28). Here (cf. Psalm 115:2) it originates out of Joel 2:17. The wish expressed in Psalm 79:10 is based upon Deuteronomy 32:43. The poet wishes in company with his contemporaries, as eye-witnesses, to experience what God has promised in the early times, viz., that He will avenge the blood of His servants. The petition in Deuteronomy 32:11 runs like Psalm 102:21, cf. Psalm 18:7. אסיר individualizingly is those who are carried away captive and incarcerated; בּני תמוּתה are those who, if God does not preserve them by virtue of the greatness (גדל, cf. גּדל Exodus 15:16) of His arm, i.e., of His far-reaching omnipotence, succumb to the power of death as to a patria potestas.

(Note: The Arabic has just this notion in an active application, viz., benı̂ el-môt equals the heroes (destroyers) in the battle.)

That the petition in Psalm 79:12 recurs to the neighbouring peoples is explained by the fact, that these, who might most readily come to the knowledge of the God of Israel as the one living and true God, have the greatest degree of guilt on account of their reviling of God. The bosom is mentioned as that in which one takes up and holds that which is handed to him (Luke 6:38); חיק- (על) אל (שׁלּם) השׁיב, as in Isaiah 65:7, Isaiah 65:6; Jeremiah 32:18. A sevenfold requital (cf. Genesis 4:15, Genesis 4:24) is a requital that is fully carried out as a criminal sentence, for seven is the number of a completed process.