4. The Jews owe the acquisition and conquest of Palestine to "the light of the face of God"—the favor and protection which He gave them.

The historical books of the Jewish people are full of numerous facts of this kind.

5. O God, my King! You are the same; grant salvation to Jacob. 6. With Thee we beat our enemies with the horns; in Thy name let us trample under foot those who rise up against us;

6. "With Thee we beat our enemies with our horns." The strength of the animal is in its horns, with which it fights the enemy and defends itself from attack. Such horns for the Jews, such an instrument of his invincibility is God, in whose name the Jew was indestructible.

for I do not trust in my bow, neither will my sword save me; 8. but you will save us from our enemies, and you will put to shame those who hate us. 9. In God we will glory all the day, and we will glorify your name forever. 10. But now you have rejected and put us to shame, and you do not go out with our armies;

10. "Now Thou hast rejected... you do not go out with our troops." God is the supreme military commander of the forces of the Jewish people. The outward sign of such command was the custom of wearing the Kivot of the Covenant with the troops. The writer explains the plundering of the southern borders of the state by the enemies by the fact that the Lord ceased to lead the Jews.

11. He has put us to flight from the enemy, and those who hate us are plundering us; 12. You have given us up like sheep to be devoured, and you have scattered us among the nations;

12. "He scattered us among the nations." The Edomites, like the neighboring Jews Phoenicians and Philistines, sold Jewish captives into slavery to the Greeks and Egyptians (see Amos I:6 and 9, Joel III:2-8). Such a sale of Jewish captives is what the writer means here.

13. Thou hast sold thy people without profit, and hast not raised their price;

13. "You have sold your people without profit, and you have not raised their prices." The sale of Jews into slavery and captivity is compared to an unprofitable barter: "without profit" or with a loss. The Edomites paid very little in plundering the borders of Judah, and the Jews could not offer them any significant resistance, since the best forces suitable for war were at that time in the north in the army of David, and therefore the sacrifices on the part of the enemies could be the most insignificant. "Did not raise prices" is a continuation of the comparison. There were no buyers for the Jews, who could raise their price by offering demand for them. This means that the number of captives captured by the Edomites was very large, so that they sold them for a pittance.

14. He has given us over to be reproached by our neighbors, to be mocked and reproached by those who live around us; 15. Thou hast made us a parable among the nations, a nod of the head among the foreigners. 16. All day long my shame is before me, and shame covers my face 17. From the voice of the reviler and slanderer, from the eyes of the enemy and the avenger;

14–17. As slaves, the Jews could not expect and did not receive humane treatment; they were mocked and mocked by those who sold them and who bought them.

18. All these things have come upon us, but we have not forgotten you, nor have we broken your covenant. 19. Our heart has not turned back, and our feet have not deviated from your way, 20. when you crushed us in the land of dragons and covered us with the shadow of death.

20. "In the land of dragons" or jackals. These animals like to feed on corpses. Such corpses were Jews who had fallen into slavery, and jackals were their captors. The image of the disenfranchised and helpless position of the Jew in slavery.