Psalms 84:3

Yea, the sparrow hath found an house,.... One or other of the houses of men, where to build its nest; or its nest itself is called an house, as it seems to be explained in the next clause: the word

The sparrow hath found an house, i.e. a habitation, to wit, a nest, as it here followeth. Even thine altar; or, nigh (as this Hebrew particle eth is elsewhere used, and as it is rendered by the Septuagint and the Chaldee, ) thine altar, Heb. altars, that of burnt-offerings, and the other of incense; at or near which these birds might well and truly be said to have their nests, because they were either in some part of the tabernacle or temple in which the altars were, or in some buildings belonging, or near at least, to it.

Psalms 84:3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, [even] thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.Ver. 3. Yea, the sparrow] Avis communissima, haunteth about houses, buildeth about windows, and there chirpeth. And the swallow a nest for herself, &c.] She hath her name in Hebrew from her liberty to fly boldly, and to nestle in men’ s chimneys, Proverbs 26:2. The Hebrew word ÷ï, for a nest, hath the first letter larger than the rest, to note God’ s providence in teaching birds to build. Even thine altars] Or, Oh thine altars! (so some read it) by a passionate exclamation, importing strongest desires after them. The want of God’ s ordinances should pinch us to the heart.

(3) Sparrow.—Heb., tsippτr, which is found up-wards of forty times in the Old Testament, and is evidently used in a very general way to include a great number of small birds. “Our common house- sparrow is found on the coast in the towns, and inland its place is taken by a very closely-allied species, Passer Cisalpina” (Tristram, Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 202). Swallow.—Heb. derτr, which by its etymology implies a bird of rapid whirling flight. (See Proverbs 26:2, where this characteristic is especially noticed.) The ancient versions take the word as cognate with “turtle-dove.” In an appendix to Delitzsch’s Commentary on the Psalms, Dr. J. G. Wetzstein, identifies the tsippτr with the τsfur of the Arabs, a generic name for small chirping birds, and derτr with dϋri. which is specific of the sparrow.Even thy altars.—Better, at or near thine altars, though even if taken as in the Authorised “Version the meaning is the same. There is no real occasion for the great difficulty that has been made about this verse. It is absurd indeed to think of the birds actually nesting on the altars; but that they were found in and about the Temple is quite probable, just as in Herodotus (i. 159) we read of Aristodicus making the circuit of the temple at Branchidζ, and taking the nests of young sparrows and other birds. (Comp. the story in Ζlian of the man who was slain for harming a sparrow that had sheltered in the temple of Ζsculapius.) Ewald gives many other references, and among them one to Burckhardt showing that birds nest in the Kaaba at Mecca. The Hebrew poetic style is not favourable to simile, or the psalmist would have written (as a modern would), “As the birds delight to nest at thine altars, so do I love to dwell in thine house.”

Verse 3. Yea, the sparrow hath found a house] It is very unlikely that sparrows and swallows, or birds of any kind, should be permitted to build their nests, and hatch their young, in or about altars which were kept in a state of the greatest purity; and where perpetual fires were kept up for the purpose of sacrifice, burning incense, c. Without altering the text, if the clause be read in a parenthesis, the absurdity will be avoided, and the sense be good. "My heart crieth out for the living God, (even the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow דרור deror, the ring-dove, a nest for herself, where she may lay her young,) for thine altars. O Lord of hosts! " Or, read the parenthesis last: "My heart crieth out for the living God; for thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Even the sparrow hath found out a house, and the swallow (ring-dove) a nest for herself, where she may lay her young;" but I have no place, either of rest or worship, understood. The Chaldee translates thus: "Even the pigeon hath found a house, and the turtle-dove hath a nest because their young may be offered lawfully upon thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God." Or, as a comparison seems to be here intended, the following may best express the meaning; "Even as the sparrow finds out (seeks) a house, and the swallow her nest in which she may hatch her young; so I, thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God."

3, 4. The happiness of those who find a home in the Temple.

Yea, the sparrow hath found an house - A home; a place where she may abide, and build her nest, and rear her young. The word here used - צפור tsippôr - is a name given to a bird from its chirping or twittering.

3. The sparrow hath found a house, etc.—To spiritualize this verse, or to convert it into a delicate symbolism, as if the sparrow and swallow represented the psalmist, who had at last found the place