General Editor E. RAY CLENDENEN Associate General Editor, OT Kenneth A. Mathews Associate General Editor, NT David S. Dockery Consulting Editors Old Testament DUANE A. GARRETT New Testament RICHARD R.
Copyright 2019 B&H Publishing Group All rights reserved.
Copyright 2019 B&H Publishing Group All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-0-8054-0113-4 Dewey Decimal Classification: 223.2 Subject Heading: BIBLE. O.T. PSALMS Scriptures marked CSB are taken from The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible, and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
NET Bible copyright 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved. New Jerusalem Bible text copyright 1985 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc. Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 24 23 22 21 20 19 LB For Dr. Robert Gromacki, esteemed teacher, generous colleague, and faithful friend, whose exemplary ministry for
fifty years at Cedarville University shaped the lives of thousands of students, including mine, as he taught them to read the Word,
to love the Word, and to live the Word, but most of all, to know the Lord. 2 Timothy 2:15 Editors Preface Gods Word does not change, but Gods world does change.
New ideas and trends emerge in both society and scholarship. A culture can undergo dramatic ideological shifts, and this surely happened in North America in the decades between the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. In each generation, Christian leaders must interpret and apply Gods Word in a manner that is both faithful to the timeless truths of the Bible and relevant to the current trials and questions facing the church. Thus, THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY was introduced to bridge the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This new series has been designed primarily to enable pastors, teachers, and students to read the Bible with clarity and proclaim it with power. In one sense THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY was not new, for it represents the continuation of a heritage rich in biblical and theological exposition.
The title of this series points to its continuity with an important commentary project published at the end of the nineteenth century called AN AMERICAN COMMENTARY, edited by Alvah Hovey. The older series included, among other significant contributions, the outstanding volume on Matthew by John A. Broadus, from whom the publisher of the new series, Broadman Press (now B&H), partly derives its name. The former series was authored and edited by scholars committed to the infallibility of Scripture, making it a solid foundation for the present project. In line with this heritage, all NAC authors affirm the divine inspiration, inerrancy, complete truthfulness, and full authority of the Bible. The perspective of the NAC is unapologetically confessional and rooted in the evangelical tradition.
Since a commentary is a fundamental tool for the expositor or teacher who seeks to interpret and apply Scripture in the church or classroom, the NAC focuses on communicating the theological structure and content of each biblical book. The writers seek to illuminate both the historical meaning and contemporary significance of holy Scripture. In its attempt to make a unique contribution to the Christian community, the NAC focuses on two concerns. First, the commentary emphasizes how each section of a book fits together so that the reader becomes aware of the theological unity of each book and of Scripture as a whole. The writers, however, remain aware of the Bibles inherently rich variety. Second, the NAC is produced with the conviction that the Bible primarily belongs to the church.
We believe that scholarship and the academy provide an indispensable foundation for biblical understanding and the service of Christ, but the editors and authors of this series have attempted to communicate the findings of their research in a manner that will build up the whole body of Christ. Thus, the commentary concentrates on theological exegesis while providing practical, applicable exposition. THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARYs theological focus enables the reader to see the parts as well as the whole of Scripture. The biblical books vary in content, context, literary type, and style. In addition to this rich variety, the editors and authors recognize that the doctrinal emphasis and use of the biblical books differ in various places, contexts, and cultures among Gods people. These factors, as well as other concerns, have led the editors to give freedom to the writers to wrestle with the issues raised by the scholarly community surrounding each book and to determine the appropriate shape and length of the introductory materials.
Moreover, each writer has developed the structure of the commentary in a way best suited for expounding the basic structure and the meaning of the biblical books for our day. Generally, discussions relating to contemporary scholarship and technical points of grammar and syntax appear in the footnotes and not in the text of the commentary. This format allows pastors and interested laypersons, scholars and teachers, and serious college and seminary students to profit from the commentary at various levels. This approach has been employed because we believe that all Christians have the privilege and responsibility to read and seek to understand the Bible for themselves. Consistent with the desire to produce a readable, up-to-date commentary, the original editors selected what they considered to be the most appropriate Bible translation available at the time, the New International Version (1984), as the standard translation for the commentary series. The current editors have chosen to adopt the Christian Standard Bible (2017) as the new translation for the series.
We consider the CSB to be an outstanding conflation of faithfulness to the biblical text and readability. The authors, however, have been given the liberty to differ at places from the CSB as they develop their own translations from the Greek and Hebrew texts. The NAC reflects the vision and leadership of those who provide oversight for B&H Publishers, who in 1987 called for a new commentary series that would evidence a commitment to the inerrancy of Scripture and a faithfulness to the classic Christian tradition. While the commentary adopts an American name, it should be noted that some writers represent countries outside the United States, giving the commentary an international perspective. The diverse group of writers includes scholars, teachers, and administrators from almost twenty different colleges and seminaries, as well as pastors, missionaries, and a layperson. Almost all have had pastoral experience.
The editors and writers hope that THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY will be helpful and instructive for pastors and teachers, scholars and students, for men and women in the churches who study and teach Gods Word in various settings. We trust that for editors, authors, and readers alike, the commentary will be used to build up the church, encourage obedience, and bring renewal to Gods people. Above all, we pray that the NAC will bring glory and honor to our Lord, who has graciously redeemed us and faithfully revealed himself to us in his Holy Word. SOLI DEO GLORIA The Editors Authors Preface Ever since I was invited to write this commentary on Psalms 73150, two questions have dominated my thinking. Why is another commentary on Psalms needed? How can this commentary contribute something of value in addition to what has been written previously by others? Until I could answer these questions, I could not in good faith pen yet another commentary on the Psalter. Unless I could answer these questions cogently, readers would have no reason to consult it.
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