Psalm 83

Psalm 83 belongs to Book Three of the Psalter (Psalms 73–89) and is the last in the collection of psalms of Asaph that begins with Psalm 73. The preceding Psalm 82 ends with "Arise, O God, judge the earth." Psalm 83 continues this movement, opening with a plea that God not keep silent but judge His enemies.

Structure

• Verse 1: An appeal to God not to keep silent.
• Verses 2–5: God's enemies make a tumult and conspire together to cut off Israel. They make a covenant with one another to destroy the nation so that its very name will no longer be remembered.
• Verses 6–8: The nations joining the alliance are listed one by one: Edom, the Ishmaelites, Moab, the Hagarenes, Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, the Philistines, and the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria joins them and helps the children of Lot. Verse 8 ends with "Selah."
• Verses 9–12: The psalmist asks God to do to these enemies as He did to Midian, to Sisera and Jabin at the brook Kishon, and to Oreb, Zeeb, Zebah, and Zalmunna. The enemies had sought to take God's pastures as their own possession.
• Verses 13–15: Using the images of whirling tumbleweed, stubble before the wind, fire that burns a forest, and tempest and storm, the psalmist asks God to scatter the enemies.
• Verses 16–18: The psalmist asks that the enemies be put to shame so that they may seek the LORD's name. Finally, he prays that they may know that the LORD alone is the Most High over all the earth.

Key Verses

• Psalm 83:1 "Keep not thou silence, O God" — The psalm opens with a plea offered in a crisis in which God appears to be silent.
• Psalm 83:4 "That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance" — This shows that the enemies aimed to eliminate Israel as a people altogether.
• Psalm 83:18 "That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth" — This reveals that the prayer for judgment is ultimately directed toward the knowledge of God.

People and Places

• Asaph: The name in the superscription. He is traditionally identified as a Levite in charge of temple praise in the time of David; the psalms bearing his name are Psalm 50 and Psalms 73–83.
• Edom, Moab, Ammon, Amalek, Philistia: Neighboring peoples who long opposed Israel.
• Ishmaelites: Nomads regarded as descendants of Hagar and Ishmael.
• Hagarenes: A nomadic people east of the Jordan, also mentioned in 1 Chronicles 5:10.
• Gebal: Some identify it with a region of Edom south of the Dead Sea; others, with the Phoenician city of Byblos.
• Tyre: A Phoenician port city.
• Assyria: A major power in northern Mesopotamia. The "children of Lot" mentioned alongside it refers to Moab and Ammon, the descendants of Lot.
• Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, Zebah and Zalmunna: Midian and its leaders, defeated by Gideon (Judges 7–8).
• Sisera and Jabin, the brook Kishon: A reference to the defeat of Sisera, commander of the army of the Canaanite king Jabin, by Deborah and Barak near the brook Kishon (Judges 4–5).
• Endor: A village near the Jezreel Valley. The psalm says the enemies perished there, but the place name does not appear in the battle accounts in Judges.

Interpretive Considerations

• Historical background: No other biblical account records these nations attacking Israel all at once. Some therefore connect the psalm with the joint invasion by Moab and Ammon in the time of Jehoshaphat described in 2 Chronicles 20. Others see it as a composite portrayal that gathers Israel's enemies from various periods.
• Prayers for the destruction of enemies: Interpreters differ on how Christians should read such a psalm. Some point out that verses 16 and 18 ask that the enemies seek the LORD's name and come to know God, and therefore hold that the psalm's purpose lies more in the manifestation of God's name than in vengeance. Others note a tension between this psalm and the New Testament teaching of love for enemies. The psalm is not known to be quoted directly in the New Testament.
• Interpretations linked to current events: Some interpreters of a dispensationalist orientation map the list of nations in verses 6–8 onto present-day Middle Eastern states and read it as end-times prophecy. Many commentators regard this as going beyond the original meaning of the text.
• The divine name in verse 18: The Hebrew text of this verse uses God's personal name (YHWH), which the King James Version renders "JEHOVAH." Jehovah's Witnesses frequently cite this verse when emphasizing the name of God.