Psalms · Chapter 133

Verse 1. Behold, how good and how pleasant] Unity is, according to this scripture, a good thing and a pleasant; and especially among brethren-members of the same family, of the same Christian community, and of the same nation. And why not among the great family of mankind? On the other hand, disunion is bad and hateful. The former is from heaven; the latter, from hell.

Verse 1. Behold, how good and how pleasant, &c. — It is good in itself, agreeable to the will of God, and therefore peculiarly pleasing to him, as it is also to all good men: it is good for us, for our honour and comfort. It is pleasant, and brings constant delight to those who experience and practise it. For brethren to dwell together in unity — For us, who are brethren, not only by nature and blood, but also by combination in one and the same commonwealth, and by the profession of the same religion. “Many things are good which are not pleasant, and many pleasant which are not good. But unity among brethren, whether civil or religious, is productive both of profit and pleasure. Of profit, because therein consisteth the welfare and security of every society; of pleasure, because mutual love is the source of delight, and the happiness of one becomes, in that case, the happiness of all. It is unity alone which gives beauty, as well as strength, to the state; which renders the church, at the same time, fair as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners, Song of Solomon 6:10.” — Horne.

1. This verse states the theme of the psalm—brotherly love—and the behold calls our attention to it.

V. 2. Ointment-It is no less grateful and refreshing than that oil which was poured forth upon Aaron’s head at the time of his consecration to the priestly office. Skirts-Not to the lower skirt or bottom of his sacerdotal garment, but to the upper skirt of it, or the mouth of it, as the Hebrew word properly signifies.

Verse 2. Like the precious ointment] The composition of this holy anointing oil may be seen, Exodus 30:23; sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus, cassia lignea, and olive oil. The odour of this must have been very agreeable, and serves here as a metaphor to point out the exquisite excellence of brotherly love.

Ran down upon the beard] The oil was poured upon the head of Aaron so profusely as to run down upon his garments. It is customary in the east to pour out the oil on the head so profusely as to reach every limb.

Verse 2. It is like the precious ointment, &c. — It is no less grateful and refreshing than that holy anointing oil, which was strongly perfumed, and diffused its fragrance all around, to the great delight of all present, when it was poured upon the head of Aaron, at the time of his consecration to the priestly office, so plentifully, that it ran down his face, even to the collar or binding of his garment. “This verse is explained by Exodus 13:23, &c., where God gave directions concerning the ointment which was to anoint Aaron and his sons. It was to be composed of several rich spices, which, by being rightly tempered and mixed together, yielded a most fragrant odour, and thus became a most expressive emblem of unanimity and concord, in a well-cemented society; all jointly conspiring and contributing, according to their various capacities, tempers, and conditions, to the good of the whole.” — Dodd. Dr. Hammond carries this comparison further, and supposes that this anointing oil, being said to go down to the skirts of Aaron’s garments, implies that unity is a blessing to the subject, as well as to the governor; to the meanest person in the society, as well as the greatest; which is an undoubted truth, though, perhaps, it might not be intended here by the psalmist.

Verse 2. It is like the precious ointment, of very exquisite perfume, which Moses commanded to be prepared, and richly poured upon the frontlets of the head of Aaron. Exodus 30:25-30.

2. Precious ointment—Hebrew, Good oil. The allusion is to the consecration of Aaron, Leviticus 8. The purest olive oil was used, perfumed with costly spices, Exodus 30:22-33. It was good or “precious” because it was pure, highly aromatic, and holy; it was unlawful to use it for any but holy or ritualistic purposes. Upon the head—As the representative of the entire man. Thus was all consecrating oil used, whether on kings or priests. Thus, also, by the imposition of hands upon the head were priestly and other consecrations made, both in the Old and New Testaments. Thus the Spirit descended upon the head at Pentecost, and thus God applied his seal to the forehead of his own, Revelation 7:3. The particle of comparison indicates a resemblance between brotherly love and unity and the holy anointing of Aaron. The point of the comparison is not in the purity, or fragrance, or copiousness, or holiness, of the oil, separately considered, but in these combined, uniting with them the significance of the holy act of consecration. Nothing was more sacred in the Jewish service than the holy oil. Itself an emblem of purity and fragrance, its consecrating use conferred the highest honour and sanctity. Skirts of his garments—Hebrew, The mouth of his garments; that is, the aperture, or opening about the neck, translated “collar,” Job 30:18, and “hole,” or opening at the top, Exodus 28:32. The oil dropped from Aaron’s head to his beard, and from his beard to the neck band of his garment. Thus the whole body was consecrated, and thus the oil of consecrating grace descends from Christ, the Head, to all the members of the Church, his mystical body.

V. 3. Zion-It is as desirable as the dew which falls upon mount Hermon, nay, as desirable as that heavenly dew of God’s ordinances and graces which he hath commanded to fall upon the mountains of Zion and Moriah, and others which are round about Jerusalem. There-Where brethren live in peace and unity.

Verse 3. As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion] This was not Mount Zion, ˆwyx tsiyon, in Jerusalem, but Sion, ˆayc which is a part of Hermon, see Deuteronomy 4:48: “Mount Sion, which is Hermon.” On this mountain the dew is very copious. Mr. Maundrell says that “with this dew, even in dry weather, their tents were as wet as if it had rained the whole night.” This seems to show the strength of the comparison. For there] Where this unity is.

The Lord commanded the blessing] That is, an everlasting life. There he pours out his blessings, and gives a long and happy life. For other particulars, see the commentators passim, and the following analysis.

Verse 3. As the dew of Hermon — It is no less grateful than the dew is which falls upon that great and goodly hill of Hermon, thereby both refreshing and rendering it fruitful. Thus, as by the former similitude he illustrated the pleasantness, he here points out the profitableness of unity, the blessed fruit which it produces. And as the dew that descended upon Zion — Upon the several parts and ridges of that mountain, or upon the mountains which are round about Jerusalem, which is often called Zion. As if he had said, The dew of heaven is not more necessary, nor more useful to the parched mountains which, though never so distant one from another, (as far as from Hermon to Zion,) are refreshed with it, than unity is for men of all ranks and conditions, who everywhere perceive the comfortable fruits of it. But, probably, the dew descending on Zion, in this latter clause, is to be taken allegorically for the favour or blessing of God, which is frequently called and compared to the dew, in the Scriptures; and, thus understood, the sense of the place will be this: It is as desirable as the dew which falls upon mount Hermon, nay, as desirable as that heavenly dew of God’s ordinances and graces, which he hath commanded to fall upon the mountains of Zion and Moriah, and others which are round about Jerusalem. For there, &c. — Where brethren live in peace and unity; or, in Zion, last mentioned, that is, in God’s church, or among his people; the Lord hath commanded — That is, ordained, promised, conferred, and established; the blessing — Namely, all manner of blessedness, for his people that sincerely worship him; even life for evermore — Which is the blessing of blessings. How good then is it, and how pleasant, to dwell in unity!

The reader will observe, that the unity, so beautifully delineated and so forcibly recommended in this pleasing little Psalm, may either be considered as civil or as religious unity. It is viewed in the former light by Dr. Delaney, whose observations on it are so just and elegant, that we are persuaded we shall gratify our readers by subjoining them. “Unity,” says he, “beginning in the prince, and diffused through the people, is here illustrated by two images, the most apt and beautiful that ever were imagined. Kingdoms are considered as bodies politic, of which the king is the head, and the people, in their several ranks and orders, the parts and members. A spirit of union, beginning in the prince, whose person is sacred, is like oil poured upon the head of Aaron, which naturally descends and spreads itself over all the parts of the body, and diffuses beauty and fragrance over the whole, reaching even to the skirts of the garment. Oil is, without question, the finest emblem of union that ever was conceived! It is a substance consisting of very small parts, which yet, by their mutual adhesion, constitute one uniform, well-united, and useful body. The sacred oil carries the idea and the advantage of union yet further, which, being extracted from various spices, yet made up one well-cohering and more valuable compound. The next image carries the exhortation to union and the advantages of it yet higher. Hermon was the general name of one mountain, comprehending many lesser and lower hills, under the surround of a greater. Union, in any nation, is the gift of God; and therefore unity among brethren, beginning from the king, is like the dew of heaven, which, falling first upon the higher summits of Hermon. (refreshing and enriching wherever it falls,) naturally descends to a lower; and thence even to the humble valleys. Zion was the centre of union to all the tribes, where God himself had promised his people rest and peace from their enemies; which, however, were of little value without union and harmony among themselves.” — Life of David, vol. 3. chap. 14. p. 204. “It only remains to be added,” says Dr. H., after quoting the above remarks, “that these divine pictures receive an additional beauty, and the colouring is much heightened, by their being viewed in another light, as representations of spiritual unity in the church. The spirit of heavenly love was that oil of gladness which Jehovah poured, without measure, on him who is the High- Priest and head of his church. Insinuating and healing, comforting and exhilarating; it is diffused from him over his body mystical, even down to the least and lowest members; of his fulness have we all received; and, as it is said of Mary’s box of spikenard, in the gospel, the house is filled with the odour of the ointment. Nor did the dew of heaven, in time of drought, ever prove more refreshing and beneficial to the mountains of Judah, than are the influences of grace, when descending in soft silence from above upon the church; in the union and communion of which God hath commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. O come the day when division shall cease, and enmity be done away; when the tribes of the spiritual Israel shall be united in a bond of eternal charity, under the true David, in the Jerusalem which is above, and saints and angels shall sing this lovely Psalm together!”

Ver. 3. As the dew of Hermon, a high hill, thirty miles east of Jerusalem: [and as the dew] these four last words are printed in italics, in our bibles, to show that they are not in the Hebrew text; neither are they in the Greek, nor in the Latin. Both Jerome and Montanus read, Sicut ros Hermon, qui descendit in montem Sion. As the dew of Hermon which descended on mount Zion. The sense is injured by making a double rain. Whoever first foisted those four words into his version, was ignorant of meteorology. When the experienced Hebrew saw the morning dew spread on all the ground, he said, the sun will gain the ascendancy, and we shall have a hot day; but when he saw the cloud on Hermon, he augured rain on Zion, and all the happy land; and with the rain he augured the continuance of all the promised blessings, long and happy life; yea, by association, life eternal.

3. As the dew of Hermon—There can be no doubt that the copiousness and the refreshing effect of oriental dews are here referred to, but why Hermon and Zion are specially mentioned is not so clear. The Hebrew simply reads: “As the dew of Hermon which descends (literally, is descending) upon the mountains of Zion.” This indicates some meteorological effect of the dews or vapours of Hermon upon the moisture and climate of the southern country. Thus Van de Velde, quoted by Moll: “Sitting here at the foot of Hermon, I was able to understand how the particles of water which ascend from its wood-crowned peaks and its gorges filled with perpetual snow, after they have been rarefied by the beams of the sun. and the atmosphere has been moistened by them, fall in the evening in the form of a heavy dew upon the lower mountains which lie around it as its projecting ridges. In no part of the whole country is such a heavy dew observed as that which falls in the districts near Hermon.” Thus Stanley: “If Zion be here Jerusalem, the sense must be that the beneficial effect of the cool vapours of the lofty Hermon were felt even to the dry and distant mountains of Judea.” That Zion here is the Zion of Jerusalem, is confirmed by the next clause, “for there [at Zion] the Lord commanded the blessing,” etc. The common English version adds, after “Hermon,” the words “and as the dew,” as if two independent descents of dew were intended. But this is against the grammatical construction, and against the metaphor. It was “the dew of Hermon” which “descended upon Zion,” and the oil upon the head of Aaron which descended upon his beard and garments, which constituted the basis of the figure. Thus, when the oil of grace and love should be poured upon the northern tribes, especially Ephraim, (with whom the chief causes of alienation existed,) it would descend upon and refresh Zion and the southern tribes, and thus give national and spiritual unity. So, also, when the representative heads of the Church, especially the sons of Aaron, shall be endued with the baptismal anointing, it shall descend in its gracious effects upon the lesser orders and members.