Psalms 118:12

12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they burned out as quickly as a brush fire; by the power of the Lord I destroyed them.

Psalms 118:12 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 118:12

They compassed me about like bees
In great numbers ^F23; as a swarm of bees, which, being irritated and provoked, will fly upon persons in a body, and with great fury; to which the Amorites and the Assyrian army were compared, ( Deuteronomy 1:44 ) ( Isaiah 7:18 ) . They will attack horses and kill them, as Aristotle ^F24 says; and places besieged have been delivered by throwing out hives of bees among the besiegers ^F25: and yet as they are feeble creatures, so by striking they lose their sting; and either die very quickly, or however become useless. All which denotes the numbers of the enemies of David and of Christ, and of his church and people, and the wrath and fury of them against them, as well as their fruitless and unsuccessful attempts upon them; for though they rage, what they contrive and endeavour to put in execution are vain things, and in the issue end in their own ruin and destruction;

they are quenched as the fire of thorns;
which make a blaze, a noise, for a while; but are soon consumed, and leave only a few ashes behind. Wicked men are often compared to thorns, they being like them, unfruitful in themselves, unprofitable to others, harmful to the saints, and whose end is to be burnt; and whose destruction is certain and sudden, and easily effected as the burning of thorns; see ( Psalms 58:9 ) ( Ecclesiastes 7:6 ) . The Targum renders it,

``they burned as fire among thorns;''

which is easily kindled and soon quenched: and so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions; as if it was expressive of their wrath and fury, which was soon over; which agrees with what follows:

for;
or "but", or "verily" ^F26,

in the name of the Lord I will destroy them;
(See Gill on Psalms 118:10) and (See Gill on Psalms 118:11).

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 (hute eynea melissa wn) , Homer. Iliad. 2. v. 87, Vid. Virgil. Aeneid. 12. v. 587.
F24 Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 40.
F25 Vid. Dieteric. Antiqu. Biblic. p. 478.
F26 (yk) "sed", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "certe utique", Polus; "quod certissime", Michaelis.

Psalms 118:12 In-Context

10 Many enemies were around me; but I destroyed them by the power of the Lord!

11 They were around me on every side; but I destroyed them by the power of the Lord!

12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they burned out as quickly as a brush fire; by the power of the Lord I destroyed them.

13 I was fiercely attacked and was being defeated, but the Lord helped me.

14 The Lord makes me powerful and strong; he has saved me.