Psa 72:2-4 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 2. He shall judge thy people with righteousness ] With justice and mercy mixed, or according to equity . And thy poor with judgment. ] Every one according to the law which thou hast appointed ; but with especial tenderness to the poor and afflicted .

‏ Psalms 72:2-4

Verse 2. He shall judge thy people with righteousness] With justice and mercy mixed, or according to equity.

And thy poor with judgment.] Every one according to the law which thou hast appointed; but with especial tenderness to the poor and afflicted.

Verse 3. The mountains shall bring peace] Perhaps mountains and hills are here taken in their figurative sense, to signify princes and petty governors; and it is a prediction that all governors of provinces and magistrates should administer equal justice in their several departments and jurisdictions; so that universal peace should be preserved, and the people be every where prosperous; for shalom signifies both peace and prosperity, for without the former the latter never existed.

But what is the meaning of "the little hills by righteousness?" Why, it has no meaning: and it has none, because it is a false division of the verse. The word bitsedakah, in righteousness, at the end of verse 3, should begin verse 4, and then the sense will be plain. Ver. 3: "The mountains and the hills shall bring prosperity to the people." Ver. 4: "In righteousness he shall judge the poor of the people: he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor."

The effects, mentioned in the fourth verse, show that King Solomon should act according to the law of his God; and that all officers, magistrates, and governors, should minister equal rights through every part of the land. The Septuagint has the true division: αναλαβετωταορηειρηνηντωλαωσουκαιοιβουνοιεν δικαιοσυνηκρινειτουςπτωχουςτουλαουκτλ "The mountains shall bring peace to thy people, and the hills: In righteousness shall he judge the poor of thy people," &c.