Psalms 113:9

He maketh the barren woman to keep house,.... Or "to dwell in the house", as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and other versions; or rather "to cause the house to be inhabited"; to fill the house with

He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.

To keep house, Heb. to dwell in a house or family, or amongst children, to wit, coming out of her own womb, as is clearly implied by the opposition of this to her barrenness. And the word house is oft put for children, as ,12. And so it is explained in the next clause.

Psalms 113:9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, [and to be] a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.Ver. 9. He maketh the barren woman to keep house] Heb. to dwell in a house, that is, to have a house full of children, and so to build her husband’ s house, Rth 4:11. This is applied to the Church (which is the theatre of the world, wherein God showeth his special providence and power), Isaiah 54:1 Galatians 4:26-27.

(9) He maketh.—See margin. Motherhood alone assured the wife of a fixed and dignified position in her husband’s house. The quotation from Hannah’s song suggested the allusion to her story. We are no doubt right in taking this joyful mother as emblematic of the nation itself restored to prosperity and joy.

Verse 9. He maketh the barren woman to keep house] This is a figure to point out the desolate, decreasing state of the captives in Babylon, and the happy change which took place on their return to their own land. These are nearly the words of Hannah, 1 Samuel 2:5. ANALYSIS OF THE HUNDRED AND THIRTEENTH PSALM The scope of this Psalm is the same with those that went before, that is, to excite men to praise God. This Psalm contains three parts: - I. An exhortation to God's servants to praise him. II. A form set down how and where to praise him, Psalms 113:2-3. III. The reasons to persuade us to it. 1. By his infinite power, Psalms 113:4-5. 2. His providence, as displayed in heaven and earth, Psalms 113:6. I. The prophet exhorts men "to praise the Lord;" and, 1. He doubles and trebles his exhortation, that it be not coldly but zealously done, or else to show that he alone is worthy of praise. 2. "Praise the Lord, O ye servants," c.: They are to praise him, for he is their Lord praise him likewise with a pure heart. II. The manner of praising him. Say, 1. "Blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21. 2. "From this time forth," c.: In prosperity or adversity, in this life or the future. 3. "From the rising of the sun," &c.: In all places, even over all the world. III: And now follow the reasons to persuade men to praise God. 1. Because of his majesty, infinite power, and glory, which extend not to earth alone, but heaven also: "The Lord is high above," &c. 2. Because of his providence, benignity, and bounty, which being united with so much majesty, appear the more admirable. "Who is like the Lord," &c. None in heaven or on earth are to be compared to him. "Yet he humbleth himself," &c. He is present with the highest angels, and with the poorest of his creatures, to help them. In "humbling himself to behold the things on earth" he gives two instances: 1. In states and kingdoms. 2. In private families. 1. In states: "He raiseth up the poor," &c.: Let then no man say, that God does not regard them that are of low estate he raiseth up the poor, to the end "that he may set him with the princes," &c. 2. In private families: "He maketh the barren woman," &c. "Children are a heritage of the Lord." Some expositors refer the meaning of this last verse to the Church of the Gentiles: "Rejoice, O barren," &c. Isaiah 54:1.

9. He maketh the barren housewife to dwell As a joyful mother of sons. He gives her a secure and happy position in her home. The reference in Psalms 113:6-7 to the Song of Hannah suggests this further reference to the experience of Hannah, as an instance of the way in which Jehovah has compassion on those who are despised. But doubtless under the figure of the once childless wife gladdened with a family of sons the Psalmist intends to allude to Zion. Cp. Isaiah 54:1; Isaiah 66:8. So the Targum: “Who maketh the congregation of Israel, which was like a barren woman mourning for the men of her household, to be full of crowds, like a mother who rejoiceth over sons.” Praise ye the Lord] In the LXX this Hallelujah is transferred, perhaps rightly, to the beginning of Psalms 114. See on Psalms 104:35.

He maketh the barren woman to keep house ... - Margin, as in Hebrew, “to dwell in a house.” That is, to be at the head of a family. See the notes at Psalms 68:6. Compare 1 Samuel 2:5.

9. Barren woman to keep house—Properly, to dwell, or abide, in the house.