Psalms 68:27

There [is] little Benjamin, [with] their ruler,.... Or who is "their ruler" (y); that is, in the congregations or churches, where he was a ruler; or in the procession, the triumphal progress of

There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.

There is present in this solemn pomp of carrying the ark to Zion, under the conduct of David their king, little Benjamin. That tribe is called little, partly because it was the youngest, as being descended from Jacob’ s youngest son Benjamin; and principally because it was exceedingly diminished, and almost extinguished, under the judges, Jude 20 Jude 21. He mentions this tribe, partly because they were nearest unto Judah, and to the place whither the ark was going; and partly to note their reconciliation and submission to David, against whom they had stood out with more obstinacy than any other tribe, as having been so long used to govern, and loth to part with the regal dignity which was by God’ s appointment first seated among them. With their ruler; with the prince of their tribe, who marched in the head of them. Heb. the ruler, i.e. the tribe which had lately swayed the sceptre, but now submitted themselves to David, and waited upon him in this expedition. But the first sense seems the truest, because the princes of all the following tribes are here mentioned. Their council; their counsellors; or rather, their company, as it is in the margin, the people of that tribe who waited upon them in that action; which may seem to be here noted, to intimate that though the princes only of the following tribes be yet the people are comprehended under them, and were present with them in that solemnity. Zebulun and Naphtali: he mentions these tribes, either, 1. Because they excelled in learning and knowledge, as is gathered from . Or, 2. Because they were more hearty and forward in complying with David and in his service than the rest, as may seem from the great number of them which came from the ends of the land to David in Hebron, ,34. Or, 3. Because they lived in the remotest parts of the land of Canaan. And so by naming two of the nearest tribes, and two of the furthest, he leaves it to be understood that the other tribes also did come upon this occasion, as is manifest from ,19 ,5,6,8 15:3,28.

Psalms 68:27 There [is] little Benjamin [with] their ruler, the princes of Judah [and] their council, the princes of Zebulun, [and] the princes of Naphtali.Ver. 27. There is little Benjamin with their ruler] Though before they had stood out for Saul and his house, yet now they bore a part in this solemn celebrity, as being next unto the sanctuary. Of this tribe was St Paul, Tricubitalis ille homuncio, sed insatiabilis Dei cultor, as Chrysostom calleth him, little in stature, but in labours more abundant. The first precious stone in the foundation of the New Jerusalem is a jasper, Revelation 21:19, which in Aaron’ s breastplate was the last, Exodus 28:20, on which Benjamin’ s name was graven. This intimateth, saith Ainsworth, the last now to be first, and chief in Christian Churches. The princes of Judah and their council] Or company, or purple-arrayed ones. Beza rendereth it, Lapidatores eorum, the stoners of the enemies. The word is found here only; and Forsterus thinketh that our Saviour alludeth to it when, as Mark 3:17, he calleth James and John Boanerges. The princes of Zebulun] Sic absolvitur pompa triumphalis. These are mentioned as most remote, bringing up the rear. In those tribes Christ walked, and therehence he called sundry of his disciples.

(27) There is . . .—The procession is apparently a representative one. and the conjecture is probable which refers the selection of Zebulun and Naphtali to their prominence in Deborah’s song. Benjamin may owe its position to the fact that it gave the nation its first king, and Judah would naturally figure in the pomp as the tribe of David. But other considerations besides may have had weight. The selection may have been made as representative of the two kingdoms. Their ruler.—The Hebrew word has always a sense of a high-handed conqueror’s rule, with the possible exception of Jer 5:31. There is probably still a reference to Saul and his conquests—“little Benjamin who conquered for thee,” or, possibly, here Benjamin takes the victor’s place as leader of the procession. Their council.—The reading must certainly be changed in accordance with Psalms 55:14. Their crowd, or company.

Verse 27. There is little Benjamin] This is a description of another part of the procession.

27. The representatives of four tribes are specified as taking part in the procession. Judah and Benjamin naturally represent the South. Jerusalem was on the boundary between them; and the Temple was in the territory assigned to Benjamin (Deuteronomy 33:12; Joshua 18:16), which may account for the place of honour being assigned to it. But why are Zebulun and Naphtali selected to represent the North? Is it as a recognition of their heroic patriotism commemorated in the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:18) of which this Psalm contains so many reminiscences? or is it (on the assumption of the exilic date of the Psalm) an allusion to the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 11:1), that just those tribes which had suffered most severely from the first Assyrian invasion should be restored to honour? This, if the exilic date of the Psalm is adopted, is the most obvious explanation. The prophets from Amos (Amos 9:11 ff.) and Hosea (Hosea 3:5) onward, foretold the restoration of Israel as well as Judah, and their reunion into one state, and the Psalmist sees this hope visibly fulfilled in the festal procession. It may be noted that in Jeremiah 3:17-18, the restoration of the reunited people is placed in close connexion with the conflux of the nations to worship at Jerusalem of which the Psalmist goes on to speak in Psalms 68:28 ff. It is important to remember that the Israelites who returned from Babylon regarded themselves as representing the whole nation, and not the kingdom of Judah only. Cp. Ezra 8:35; Psalms 122:4. little Benjamin with their ruler] Omit with. Benjamin is called little as the youngest of the sons of Jacob, and the smallest of the tribes in population and territory (1 Samuel 9:21). Their ruler is explained by the Targ. as an allusion to Saul’s kingship; “There was Benjamin, small among the tribes, who first went down into the [Red] Sea, and therefore first received the kingdom”: by others it is supposed to mean ‘conducting them.’ The word is obscure and possibly corrupt. and their council] Or, company.

There is little Benjamin - In that solemn procession. That is, the tribe of Benjamin is “represented” there; or, there are in the procession those who are connected with that tribe.

27. Little Benjamin—Or, Benjamin the younger, as the word often signifies, (Genesis 43:33; Genesis 48:13;) or it may here denote “little” or few as to numbers, compared with other tribes, and from