Seventh-day Adventist Bible CommentaryPsalms 58

O congregation. Heb. ’elem, the meaning of which is obscure and many definitions have been suggested. The translation of the RSV, “gods,” is from ’elim. The LXX and the Vulgate consider ’elem an intensive adverb further emphasizing the adverb “indeed.” It is impossible to know precisely what the psalmist intended to express by ’elem. The ironical rhetorical questions of v. 1 introduce the theme of the psalm. They are addressed to the unjust judges in the land.

Ye weigh. Instead of weighing out justice, they weigh out violence. The psalmist’s statement is made in sarcasm. Hands. Contrasted with “heart.” Iniquity is conceived in the heart and carried out with the hands.

They go astray. A generalization that the wicked usually show a tendency to evil from early childhood.

Their poison. The malignant words that they speak (see Ps. 140:3; Rom. 3:13). The deaf adder. Their obstinate wickedness is compared to the stubbornness of the adder, or asp, that refuses to submit to the snake charmer. The snake is not really deaf, but appears so because of the difficulty of charming it. The expression “deaf as an adder” is probably to be traced to this famous reference to snake charming (Eccl. 10:11; see Jer. 8:17). The popular misconception that the adder is deaf and that snakes respond only to the gesticulations of the snake charmer has been adequately refuted.

Charmers. Snake charmers have always been common in the East, and are especially prominent in India. They make their living both by demonstrating their power over serpents by way of exhibition and by drawing them out of hiding places where they lurk as a danger to travelers.

Break their teeth. The poet turns from the image of the snake and the snake charmer to a picture of young lions whose teeth must be broken lest they continue their depredations (see Ps. 3:7).

Verses 6–9 contain vigorous imprecation, piling metaphor upon metaphor (see p. 624). They show that God will make unjust judges powerless in their designs. Since the wicked cannot be reclaimed, the psalmist prays that they may be rendered powerless.

Melt away as waters. The psalmist’s prayer is that his enemies may perish as the swollen waters of a torrent are lost in the desert sands or utterly dry up in the drought of summer (see 2 Sam. 14:14; Job 6:15–17).

Which melteth. Perhaps referring to the popular belief that the snail gradually wastes away, as its slimy trail might seem to suggest. Others think the expression refers to the shriveling up of snails in the dry season. The untimely birth. Compare Job 3:16.

Before your pots. The picture is not entirely clear. Some think it is that of desert nomads building a fire in the open air; a gust of wind puts out the fire before the cooking vessels are warmed. The force of the illustration is to express the psalmist’s desire that the destruction of the wicked may take place quickly.

Shall rejoice. Compare Deut. 32:41–43. Shall wash his feet. Perhaps a reference to a practice thought to have been common in the wars of the period (see Ps. 68:23). For example, in Ugaritic literature (see p. 618) the war goddess Anath is said to “wash her hands in the blood of warriors.”

A man. Every man, or men in general, will recognize the truth that God does interpose in human affairs, rewarding righteousness and punishing sin. A reward. Literally, “fruit” (see Prov. 1:31; Isa. 3:10; 1 Tim. 4:8). Judgeth in the earth. Although it may at times seem that God permits the wrong and injustice of earth to continue unhindered, the fact remains that His eye is upon all the misdeeds of sinful men, that He is keeping a strict account, and that in due time He will interpose. At all times there is a boundary beyond which wicked men are not suffered to go. This lesson is closely related to the one King Nebuchadnezzar learned during his seven years of madness.