Psalm 89:25

I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(25) In the sea.—A reference, as in Psalm 72:8; Psalm 80:11, to the limits of the Solomonic kingdom, the Mediterranean and the Euphrates. For the figure we may compare a saying attributed by Curtius to some Scythian ambassadors, who addressed Alexander in these terms: “If the gods had given thee a body as great as thy mind, the whole world would not be able to contain thee. Thou wouldst reach with one hand to the east, and with the other to the west.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

89:19-37 The Lord anointed David with the holy oil, not only as an emblem of the graces and gifts he received, but as a type of Christ, the King Priest, and Prophet, anointed with the Holy Ghost without measure. David after his anointing, was persecuted, but none could gain advantage against him. Yet all this was a faint shadow of the Redeemer's sufferings, deliverance, glory, and authority, in whom alone these predictions and promises are fully brought to pass. He is the mighty God. This is the Redeemer appointed for us, who alone is able to complete the work of our salvation. Let us seek an interest in these blessings, by the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. As the Lord corrected the posterity of David for their transgressions, so his people shall be corrected for their sins. Yet it is but a rod, not a sword; it is to correct, not to destroy. It is a rod in the hand of God, who is wise, and knows what he does; gracious, and will do what is best. It is a rod which they shall never feel, but when there is need. As the sun and moon remain in heaven, whatever changes there seem to be in them, and again appear in due season; so the covenant of grace made in Christ, whatever alteration seems to come to it, should not be questioned.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I will set his hand also in the sea ... - His dominion shall extend from the sea on the one hand to the rivers on the other. The sea here evidently refers to the Mediterranean; and the rivers to the great rivers on the east - the Tigris and Euphrates. These were the promised boundaries of the land. Genesis 15:18. David secured a conquest over all these territories, and united all under his scepter, thus securing the accomplishment of the promise made to Abraham. See the notes at Psalm 60:1-12.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

25. hand [and] right hand—power (Ps 17:7; 60:5).

sea, and … rivers—limits of his empire (Ps 72:8).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

I will set his hand, i.e. establish his power and dominion.

In the sea; the midland sea.

The rivers, to wit, Euphrates, called rivers in the plural number, as Nilus also is, Isaiah 18:1 Ezekiel 29:3,4, in regard of divers branches of it, and rivers which flow into it. So here is a description of the uttermost bounds of the Promised Land, Exodus 23:31 Numbers 34:3, to which the Israelitish power was extended by David and Solomon.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

I will set his hand also in the sea,.... Which is expressive not of his dominion over the sea, and of his power and authority over all things in it, which: he has by right of creation, and as Mediator, Psalm 8:5, of which there were instances in the days of his flesh, Matthew 8:26, but of his kingdom taking place in, and of his government over the inhabitants of the isles of the sea; and so the Targum,

"I will set or place his government in the provinces of the sea;''

and which has been remarkably accomplished in our isles, where his Gospel has been preached, his kingdom set up, and he has had a race of subjects, and a seed, to serve him for many years:

and his right hand in the rivers: or, as the Targum,

"the power of his right hand in those that dwell by rivers;''

meaning such that dwell upon the continent, afar off from the sea, and whose countries are watered by rivers: so that both phrases denote the extent of Christ's kingdom in the continent, and in the islands of the sea; signifying, that it should reach everywhere, and be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, Psalm 72:8. Compare with this Revelation 10:1. Aben Ezra interprets it of David's prevailing over those that go in ships in the sea, and in rivers.

Geneva Study Bible

I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the {x} rivers.

(x) He will enjoy the land around him.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

25. in the sea … in the rivers] R.V., on the sea … on the rivers; i.e. I will extend his dominion to the Mediterranean on the west, and to the Euphrates on the north-east, the boundaries of the land according to ancient promise. See Genesis 15:18; Exodus 23:31; Deuteronomy 11:24; 1 Kings 4:24; cp. Psalm 72:8; Psalm 80:11. The plural rivers is a poetical generalisation, or may denote the Euphrates and its canals.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 25. - I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers (comp. Psalm 72:8). "The sea" is probably the Mediterranean, and "the rivers" the Euphrates, with its canals and affluents (see 1 Kings 4:21, 24; Psalm 137:1). The promise of an extended dominion is implied in 2 Samuel 7:9. Psalm 89:25

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

What is promised in Psalm 89:26 is a world-wide dominion, not merely dominion within the compass promised in the primeval times (Genesis 15:18; 2 Chronicles 9:26), in which case it ought to have been said ובנהר (of the Euphrates). Nor does the promise, however, sound so definite and boundless here as in Psalm 72:8, but it is indefinite and universal, without any need for our asking what rivers are intended by נהרות. נתן יד בּ, like שׁלח (in Isaiah 11:14, of a giving and taking possession. With אף־אני (with retreated tone, as in Psalm 119:63, Psalm 119:125) God tells with what He will answer David's filial love. Him who is the latest-born among the sons of Jesse, God makes the first-born (בּכור from בּכר, to be early, opp. לקשׁ, to be late, vid., Job 2:1-13 :21), and therefore the most favoured of the "sons of the Most High," Psalm 82:6. And as, according to Deuteronomy 28:1, Israel is to be high (עליון) above all nations of the earth, so David, Israel's king, in whom Israel's national glory realizes itself, is made as the high one (עליון) with respect to the kings, i.e., above the kings, of the earth. In the person of David his seed is included; and it is that position of honour which, after having been only prelusively realized in David and Solomon, must go on being fulfilled in his seed exactly as the promise runs. The covenant with David is, according to Psalm 89:29, one that shall stand for ever. David is therefore, as Psalm 89:30 affirms, eternal in his seed; God will make David's seed and throne לעד, into eternal, i.e., into such as will abide for ever, like the days of heaven, everlasting. This description of eternal duration is, as also in Sir. 45:15, Bar. 1:11, Taken from Deuteronomy 11:21; the whole of Psalm 89:30 is a poetic reproduction of 2 Samuel 7:16.