Psalm 17:14
From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
From men which are thy hand, O Lord,.... Some understand these words, with what follows, as independent of the former, and of another set of men, even of good men; so the Targum,
"and the righteous who deliver their souls for thy sake, O Lord, unto death in the earth, their portion is in eternal life;''
so Jarchi gives the like sense of them: but the words are to be connected with the preceding, as they are by Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; and the sense is, deliver my soul from men, which are instruments in thine hand to chastise thy people: so even Satan himself, and the Sabeans and Chaldeans, whom he instigated to afflict Job, are called the "hand" of the Lord that touched him, because he suffered them to do what they did for the trial of him, Job 19:21. The words may be rendered, "the men of thy hand" {m}; who are raised up by thine hand to the power and dignity they have; and who can easily be pulled down by it; and who are in thine hand, and at thy beck and control, and whose wrath and fury thou canst restrain. Or they may be rendered, "from men by thy hand" {n}; that is, deliver me from them by thy strong hand and mighty power; as Israel of old was delivered from the Egyptians by the strong and mighty hand of God;
from men of the world: who are, as they were when they came into the world, in sin, in darkness, and in a carnal and unregenerate state; who are not only in the world, but of it, and belong to it, and to it only; and are under the influence of the god of the world, and are taken with the lusts and pleasures of it, and live in them and serve them: and are of worldly spirits, inordinately love the things of the world, mind earth and earthly things, and are unconcerned about the things of another world; see Luke 16:8;
which have their portion in this life; and in this only; have a large share of the good things of this life; and which is all their portion, Luke 16:25;
and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: earthly treasure, as gold and silver, which is called hid treasure, because it is first hid in the bowels of the earth, out of which it is dug, and afterwards hid in the coffers of worldly men; and oftentimes kept to the hurt of the owners of it. Or the phrase may denote the value and preciousness of it. And to have the belly filled with this is to have a very great affluence and plenty of it; though it is very rare, let it be ever so large, that men are fully satisfied with it;
they are full of children; which among the eastern nations was reckoned a considerable part of outward prosperity and happiness; see
Job 21:7; or their "children are full", or "filled" {o} with hidden treasure also;
and leave the rest of their substance to their babes; their children's children; their grandchildren, as Kimchi explains it; and which is said, not by way of complaint, as an evil in them, since it is lawful and right for parents to lay up for their children, and leave it to them: unless the sense is, that they engross all to themselves, and to their posterity, in life and death; while they live, they indulge their sensual appetites and lusts, and fill themselves and theirs, but give nothing to the poor and hungry; nor part with anything for the interest of God and true religion; and when they die leave nothing for such use and service, but all to their posterity: but rather the phrase is expressive of their great plenty; that having lived in and enjoyed great fulness themselves, and given large portions to their children, yet have much left; which, at death, they bequeath to the young generation. Now from such men in power and dignity, and from being hurt by them, as well as from communion and conversation with them, the psalmist desires to be delivered; and expresses his satisfaction in other and better things than they enjoy, in the following words.
{m} Kdy Mytmm "ab inimieis manus tuae", V. L. so Sept. "a viris manus tuae", Lutherus, Musculus.
{n} "Manu tua", Montaus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Gejerus.
{o} Mynb webvy "saturantur vel satiantur filii", Munster, Muis, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus; so Targ. Ar. Ainsworth.