![]() That deep, profoundly human bond accounts for the ancient legal principle of 'punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation' (see Exodus 20:5 Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me Īmerican King James Version ×.)" (note on Psalms 109:12 Psalms 109:12 Let there be none to extend mercy to him: neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children.Īmerican King James Version ×). Moreover we should consider, as the Zondervan NIV Study Bible says, that "the close identity of a man with his children and of children with their parents, resulting from the tightly bonded unity of the three- or four-generation households of that ancient society, is alien to the modern reader, whose sense of self is highly individualistic. ![]() The enemy's parents may also have been involved (see verse 14). ![]() They may even have been participants in slandering him. It may be that the children mentioned were older-and that David understood them and the wife to be fully supportive of the wicked man's attacks on him. We do not know the exact circumstances here. Of course, they may not have been innocent at all. Still, we might wonder why David would pray for calamity on innocent family members. He may feel compelled to vent his anger in words, but the psalmist understands that vengeance itself belongs to the Lord" (note on verses 6-8). However, the psalmist directs these strong requests to the Lord he does not actually take the sword into his own hand. The description of the wife of the enemy becoming an impoverished widow and the children becoming beggars seems particularly harsh. The Nelson Study Bible states: "Here the psalm takes a decidedly negative tone. In very strong language, David calls on God to settle accounts (verses 6-20). Some take these verses to be David's quoting of his enemies regarding himself, yet it more likely seems that David is the one speaking here-referring to a primary antagonist, evidently one holding an office of responsibility (see verse 8). Yet in verses 6-19, the psalm refers to a singular individual. In its opening and closing, David refers to his enemies in the plural. Their fabrications are baseless, "without a cause" (verse 3), and they have betrayed David, returning, he says, "evil for good, and hatred for my love" (verse 5). In Psalm 109, often referred to as an imprecatory (cursing) psalm of lament, David calls on God to judge and punish his wicked enemies who have attacked him with lies and hateful accusations (verses 1-4).
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