Psalms 22:29

All [they that be] fat upon earth,.... Rich men, who abound in worldly substance, are in very flourishing and prosperous circumstances, of whom for the most part this is literally true; yea, by these

All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. All they that be fat - not only the poor and.

All, i.e. many of them, as the word all is oft used, as 17:11 . They that be fat upon earth, i.e. kings and princes, and the great men of the world, who are oft described by this metaphor, as ; compare 73:7; whose conversion to Christ is also foretold in other places, as 72:10,11 Isa 60:3,5,10 ,. These are opposed to the poor and miserable part of the world, of whom he speaks in the next words, as also , where see the first note. So the sense of the place is, that both poor and rich should embrace the gospel. But the Syriac interpreter renders these words otherwise, the hungry of the earth. And another, to the same purpose, those that are turned to ashes (for which I should rather say, they that lie down in ashes, which is a usual description of poor, afflicted, and humbled persons) on the ground; for the first Hebrew word, rendered fat, with the change but of one point, signifies ashes. Shall eat, and be satisfied, as it was more fully expressed, ; shall feed upon the Bread of life, Christ and all his benefits. And worship: this is added to explain the word, and to show what kind of eating he spoke of not of a carnal, but of a spiritual feast. They that go down to the dust; they that languish and draw nigh to death, through poverty, or misery, or anguish of mind and conscience; for such are oft said to go down into or to sit in the dust, as 113:7 47:1. These may be opposed to the fat ones mentioned in the first clause of the verse. None can keep alive his own soul: this may seem to be a further description of the same persons, and an aggravation of their miserable condition, from this circumstance, that it was not in their power to help themselves; their soul was going down to the dust, as he said in the last foregoing clause, and now he adds that none of them could stop it, or keep himself alive; so that their case was wholly desperate as to themselves; and this drove them out of themselves to seek relief from God, and to receive Jesus Christ and the gospel of salvation gladly. Heb. and he who (the pronoun relative being here understood, as it is in very many places) doth not or cannot quicken or enliven his own soul, i.e. himself, as the soul is oft taken; and quickening may be put either for nourishing, as , or for comforting, as here, , or preserving life, whether temporal or spiritual and eternal, as 18:27. But these words are and may be rendered otherwise, and that very agreeably to the Hebrew text, and the scope of the place. Having said that all nations should bow before him, i.e. before Christ and unto Christ, whom they should own as their Lord and Saviour, he now adds these words, either, 1.

Psalms 22:29 All [they that be] fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.Ver. 29. All they that be fat upon the earth] i.e. Rich and prosperous, wealthy and well liking, these shall feed on Christ, and be furthered thereby in his service; so shall also the poorer sort, called here, They that go down to the dust, and that cannot keep alive, &c.] That is, that are low kept, and half dead, through hunger and misery.

(29) Shall eat.—The figure of the banquet is resumed from Psalms 22:26, and extended. The mention of the “fat upon earth,” as included in this feast, seems certainly out of place, and injures the parallelism. We must change the text to either (1) “Shall eat and do homage all earth’s mourners,” or (2) “Ah! to him shall be bowed all the fat ones of earth.” They that go down to the dust—i.e., those on the point to die through their sufferings. And none can keep.—Better, And he who cannot keep his soul alive. Literally, has not kept. But the parallelism shows that this is not spoken of those actually dead, but of those not able from poverty to keep body and soul together.

Verse 29. All they that be fat upon earth] The rich, the great, the mighty, even princes, governors, and kings, shall embrace the Gospel. They shall count it their greatest honour to be called Christian; to join in the assemblies of his people, to commemorate his sacrificial death, to dispense the word of life, to discourage vice, and to encourage the profession and practice of pure and undefiled religion. That go down to the dust] Every dying man shall put his trust in Christ, and shall expect glory only through the great Saviour of mankind. None can keep alive his own soul.] The Vulgate has: Et anima mea illi vivet, et semen meum serviet ipsi; "and my soul shall live to him, and my seed shall serve him." And with this agree the Syriac, Septuagint, AEthiopic, Arabic, and Anglo-Saxon. The old Psalter follows them closely: And my saule sal lyf til him; and my sede hym sal serve. I believe this to be the true reading. Instead of נפשו naphsho, HIS soul, some MSS., in accordance with the above ancient versions, have נפשי naphshi, MY soul. And instead of לא lo, not, two MSS., with the versions, have לו lo, to HIM. And for חיה chiyah, shall vivify, some have יחיה yichyeh, shall live. The text, therefore, should be read, My soul (נפשי napshi) shall live (לו lo) to him: my seed (זרעי zari) shall serve him. These may be the words of David himself: "I will live to this Saviour while I live; and my spiritual posterity shall serve him through all generations."

29. A most obscure verse. The first line (according to the present text) may be rendered literally, All earth’s fat ones have eaten and worshipped. The tense is a ‘prophetic perfect’; with the eye of faith the Psalmist sees homage already paid to Jehovah even by the haughty nobles of the earth. They abandon their proud self-sufficiency, and join in the eucharistic meal with the meek (Psalms 22:26), whom once they despised and persecuted. Then he continues Before him bow all that were going down to the dust, Yea he who could not keep his soul alive. Those who were on the edge of the grave, ready to die from want and misery and trouble, come as guests and gain new life. Rich and poor, strong and weak, alike partake of the feast: for it the rich desert their wealth; in it the poor receive the compensation of their privations; and those who were ready to die find life. Cp. Isaiah 25:6-8. This seems to be the best explanation of the text as it stands; but it is open to serious objections. The reference to the sacrificial meal is very abrupt; the sense given to ‘those that go down to the dust’ is questionable; and the last line drags heavily at the end of the verse. Others suppose that the contrast intended is not between rich and poor, but between the living and the dead. ‘Earth’s fat ones’ are those in the full vigour of life: eat means simply ‘enjoy life’: all they that have gone down into the dust are the dead. Quick and dead bow in homage before the universal sovereign. Cp. Philippians 2:10. Attractive as this explanation is, the idea is foreign to the O.T. See Psalms 115:17; Isaiah 38:18; and Introd. p. xxvff., But the text is not improbably corrupt. An easy emendation, adopted by several critics, simplifies the first line thus: Surely him shall all earth’s fat ones worship,and the second line repeats the thought, Before him shall bow all they that must go down to the dust.Earth’s mightiest are but mortals and must yield their homage to the King of kings. Then the last line should be joined to the next verse thus: And as for him that could not keep his soul alive,His seed shall serve Him.The Psalmist and those who like him were at the point of death will leave a posterity behind them to serve Jehovah. The reading indicated by the LXX, But my soul liveth unto him, my seed shall serve him, suits the context less well.

All they that be fat upon the earth - The general meaning of this verse is, that “all classes of persons” will come and worship the true God; not the poor and needy only, the afflicted, and the

29. Shall eat and worship—The idea of the sacrificial feast (see on Psalms 22:25) is resumed; but it is now a spiritual feast, differing from the shelameem in this, that of this gospel feast all