God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

God hath spoken in his holiness: I will exult; I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

God hath spoken in his holy place: I will rejoice, and I will divide Sichem; and will mete out the vale of tabernacles.

God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth.

God hath spoken in His holiness: I exult, I apportion Shechem, And the valley of Succoth I measure,

God has said in his holy place, I will be glad: I will make a division of Shechem, and the valley of Succoth will be measured out.

Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah

God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice. Hitherto he has adverted to the proofs which had come under their own observation, and from which they might easily see that God had manifested his favor in a manner new, and for many years unprecedented. He had raised the nation from a state of deep distress to prosperity, and had changed the aspect of affairs so far, that one victory was following another in rapid succession. But now he calls their attention to a point of still greater importance, the divine promise -- the fact that God had previously declared all this with his own mouth. However numerous and striking may be the practical demonstrations we receive of the favor of God, we can never recognize them, except in connection with his previously revealed promise. What follows, although spoken by David as of himself individually, may be considered as the language adopted by the people generally, of whom he was the political head. Accordingly, he enjoins them, provided they were not satisfied with the sensible proofs of divine favor, to reflect upon the oracle by which he had been made king in terms the most distinct and remarkable. He says that God had spoken in his holiness, not by his Holy Spirit, as some, with an over-refinement of interpretation, have rendered it, nor by his holy place, the sanctuary; [1] for we read of no response having been given from it to the prophet Samuel. It is best to retain the term holiness, as he adverts to the fact of the truth of the oracle having been confirmed, and the constancy and efficacy of the promise having been placed beyond all doubt by numerous proof, of a practical kind. As no room had been left for question upon the point, he employs this epithet to put honor upon the words which had been spoken by Samuel. He immediately adds, that this word of God was the chief ground upon which he placed his trust. It might be true that he had gained many victories, and that these had tended to encourage his heart; but he intimates, that no testimony which he had received of this kind gave him so much satisfaction as the word. This accords with the general experience of the Lord's people. Cheered, as they unquestionably are, by every expression of the divine goodness, still faith must ever be considered as holding the highest place -- as being that which dissipates their worst sorrows, and quickens them even when dead to a happiness which is not of this world. Nor does David mean that he merely rejoiced himself. He includes, in general, all who feared the Lord in that Kingdom. And now he proceeds to give the sum of the oracle, which it is observable that he does in such a way as to show, in the very narration of it, how firmly he believed in its truth: for he speaks of it as something which admitted of no doubt whatsoever, and boasts that he would do what God had promised. I will divide Shechem, he says, and mete out the valley of Succoth [2] The parts which he names are those that were more late of coming into his possession, and which would appear to have been yet in the hands of Saul's son, when this psalm was written. A severe struggle being necessary for their acquisition, he asserts that, though late of being subdued, they would certainly be brought under his subjection in due time, as God had condescended to engage this by his word. So with Gilead and Manasseh [3] As Ephraim was the most populous of all the tribes, he appropriately terms it the strength of his head, that is, of his dominions. [4] To procure the greater credit to the oracle, by showing that it derived a sanction from antiquity, he adds, that Judah would be his lawgiver, or chief; which was equivalent to saying, that the posterity of Abraham could never prosper unless, in agreeableness to the prediction of the patriarch Jacob, they were brought under the government of Judah, or of one who was sprung from that tribe. He evidently alludes to what is narrated by Moses, (Genesis 49:10,) "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come." The same word is there used, mchvqq, Mechokek, or legislator. It followed, that no government could stand which was not resident in the tribe of Judah, this being the decree and the good pleasure of God. The words are more appropriate in the mouth of the people than of David; and, as already remarked, he does not speak in his own name, but in that of the Church at large.

Footnotes

1 - This is the reading of Mudge, Street, Archbishop Secker, and Morrison. "Should not the word be read, in his sanctuary? whence the divine oracles were issued forth. David, having received a favorable answer, perhaps by Urim and Thummim, delivers himself in a strain of the fullest confidence of victory over his enemies." -- Dimock.

2 - Shechem lay in Samaria, and, therefore, by it the whole of Samaria may be intended. The valley of Succoth, or booths, received its name from Jacob's making booths, and feeding his cattle there. (See Genesis 33:17, 18.) It lay beyond the Jordan, and it may be employed to designate the whole of that district of country. Though Samaria, and the country beyond the Jordan, were now in the hands of the enemy, yet David anticipates the time when he would gain complete and absolute possession of them, which he expresses by dividing, and meting them out. The allusion is to the dividing and measuring out of land; and it was a part of the power of a king to distribute his kingdom into cities and provinces, and to place judges and magistrates over them.

3 - Gilead and Manasseh were beyond the Jordan. The tribe of Gad, which was in Gilead, was distinguished for its warlike valor.

4 - This tribe was also distinguished for its valor. (Deuteronomy 33:17; Psalm 78:9; see also Genesis 48:19.)

God hath spoken in his holiness - That is, as a holy God; a God who is true; a God whose promises are always fulfilled. The idea is, that the holiness of God was the public pledge or assurance that what he had promised he would certainly perform. God had made promises in regard to the land of Canaan or Palestine, as a country to be put into the possession of Abraham and his posterity. Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:15; Genesis 17:8; Psalm 105:8-11. The original promise of the gift of that land, made to Abraham under the general name of Canaan Genesis 12:7, embraced the whole territory from the river (that divided the land from Egypt) to the Euphrates: "Unto thy seed, addressed to Abraham, have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates," Genesis 15:18. This would embrace the country of Edom, as well as the other countries which are specified in the psalm. The natural and proper boundary of the land on the east, therefore, according to the promise, was the river Euphrates; on the west, Egypt and the Mediterranean sea; on the south, the outer limit of Edom. It was the object of David to carry out what was implied in this promise, and to secure the possession of all that had been thus granted to the Hebrews as the descendants of Abraham. Hence, he had been engaged in carrying his conquests to the east, with a view to make the Euphrates the eastern border or boundary of the land: "David smote also Hadarezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates," 2-Samuel 8:3. Compare 1-Chronicles 18:3. In the prosecution of the same purpose he was anxious also to subdue Edom, that the entire territory thus promised to Abraham might be put in possession of the Hebrews, and that he might transmit the kingdom in the fullness of the original grant to his posterity. It is to this promise made to Abraham that he doubtless refers in the passage before us.
I will rejoice - I, David, will exult or rejoice in the prospect of success. I will find my happiness, or my confidence in what I now undertake, in the promise which God has made. The meaning is, that since God had made this promise, he would certainly triumph.
I will divide Shechem - That is, I will divide up the whole land according to the promise. The language here is taken from that which was employed when the country of Canaan was conquered by Joshua, and when it was divided among the tribes: "Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I sware unto their fathers to give them," Joshua 1:6. Compare Joshua 13:6-7; Joshua 14:5; Joshua 18:10; Joshua 19:51; Joshua 23:4; Psalm 78:55; Acts 13:19. David here applies the same language to Shechem, "and the valley of Succoth," as portions of the land, meaning that he would accomplish the original purpose in regard to the land by placing it in possession of the people of God. Shechem or Sichem was a city within the limits of the tribe of Ephraim, between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, called by the Romans Neapolis, and now Nablus. It is about two hours, or eight miles, south of Samaria. It seems to be mentioned here as being the spot where the law of Moses was read to the people of Israel, and especially the blessings and curses recorded in Deut. 27; Deut. 28, which Moses commanded to be read to the different tribes on the above-named mountains, Deuteronomy 27:11-13. This was actually done, Joshua 8:33. Shechem, therefore, as lying between these mountains, and as being the place where the great mass of the people were assembled to hear what was read, became a central place, a representative spot of the whole land, and to say that that was conquered or subdued, was to speak of that which implied a victory over the land. David speaks of having secured this, as significant of the fact that the central point of influence and power had been brought under subjection, and as in fact implying that the land was subdued. The importance of that place, and the allusion to it here, will justify a more extended reference to it, which I copy from "The Land and the Book," by Dr. Thomson, vol. ii. p. 203, 204.
"Nablus is a queer old place. The streets are narrow, and vaulted over; and in the winter time it is difficult to pass along many of them on account of brooks which rush over the pavement with deafening roar. In this respect, I know no city with which to compare it except Brusa; and, like that city, it has mulberry, orange, pomegranate, and other trees, mingled in with the houses, whose odoriferous flowers lead the air with delicious perfume during the months of April and May. Here the billbul delights to sit and sing, and thousands of other birds unite to swell the chorus. The inhabitants maintain that theirs is the most musical vale in Palestine, and my experience does not enable me to contradict them.
"Imagine that the lofty range of mountains running north and south was cleft open to its base by some tremendous convulsion of nature, at right angles to its own line of extension, and the broad fissure thus made is the vale of Nablus, as it appears to one coming up the plain of Mukhna from Jerusalem. Mount Ebal is on the north, Gerizim on the south, and the city between. Near the eastern end, the vale is not more than sixty rods wide; and just there, I suppose, the tribes assembled to hear the 'blessings and the curses' read by the Levites. We have them in extenso in Deut. 27 and Deut. 28; and in Josh. 8 we are informed that it was actually done, and how. Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin, stood on Gerizim; and Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulon, Daniel, and Naphtali, on Ebal; while all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark and on that side before the priests which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord; the whole nation of Israel, with the women and little ones, were there. And Joshua read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings; there was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel. This was, beyond question or comparison, the most august assembly the sun has ever shone upon; and I never stand in the narrow plain, with Ebal and Gerizim rising on either hand to the sky, without involuntarily recalling and reproducing the scene. I have shouted to hear the echo, and then fancied how it must have been when the loud-voiced Levites proclaimed from the naked cliffs of Ebal, 'Cursed be the man that maketh any graven image, an abomination unto Jehovah.' And then the tremendous amen! tenfold louder, from the mighty congregation, rising, and swelling, and re-echoing from Ebal to Gerizim, and from Gerizim to Ebal. amen! even so let him be accursed. No, there never was an assembly to compare with this."
And mete out the valley of Succoth - Measure out; that is, measure or survey for the purpose of "dividing" it, or assigning it to the conquerors, to the people of God, according to the promise. There is the same allusion here, as in the former clause, to the dividing of the land in the time of Joshua. Succoth, in the division of the land by Joshua, fell to the tribe of Gad; Joshua 13:27. It was on the east side of the river Jordan, and is now called Sakut. It is first mentioned in Genesis 33:17, in the account of the journey which Jacob took on returning from the East to the land of Canaan. At this place he paused in his journey, and made booths for his cattle; and hence, the name Succoth, or booths. Why this place is referred to here by David, as representing his conquests, cannot now be ascertained. It seems most probable that it was because it was a place east of the Jordan, as Shechem was west of the Jordan, and that the two might, therefore, represent the conquest of the whole country. Succoth, too, though not more prominent than many other places, and though in itself of no special importance, was well known as among the places mentioned in history. It is possible, also, though no such fact is mentioned, that there may have been some transaction of special importance there in connection with David's conquests in the East, which was well understood at the time, and which justified this special reference to it.

God hath spoken - Judah shall not only be re-established in Jerusalem, but shall possess Samaria, where Shechem is, and the country beyond Jordan, in which is situated the valley of Succoth. Dividing and meting out signify possession.

God hath spoken in his (g) holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
(g) It is as certain as if it were spoken by an oracle, that I will possess those places which Saul has left to his children.

God hath spoken in his holiness,.... Or "in his holy place" (q); in heaven, the habitation of his holiness and of his glory; or "in the house of the sanctuary", as the Targum: in the tabernacle, in the holy place by Urim and Thummim; and in the most holy place by his sacred oracle, from between the mercy seat: or "by his Holy Ones", as the Arabic version; by his holy prophets, Samuel and Nathan, by whom he spoke to David concerning the kingdom; and by his Holy Spirit dictating this psalm, and the rest unto him; and by his Son, his Holy One, by whom he has spoken in these last times unto his people, to which this psalm has reference: or it may be understood of the perfection of his holiness in which he has spoken, and by which he has swore; not only to David literally, concerning the extent of his dominion, the perpetuity and stability of it; but to David's son and antitype, the Messiah, concerning his seed, possession, and inheritance, Psalm 89:19;
I will rejoice; at the holiness of the Lord, which is matter of joy to the saints, especially as the is displayed and glorified in salvation by Christ, Psalm 97:12; and at what he said in his holiness to David, concerning his temporal kingdom, and the duration of it; because he knew that what he said he would perform; and at what was spoken to him by the Messiah, in council and covenant, concerning his seeing his seed, and prolonging his days; which was the joy set before him, which carried him through his sorrows and sufferings, Hebrews 12:2; wherefore he believed his kingdom should be enlarged, both among Jews and Gentiles, as follows;
I will divide Shechem; a city in Mount Ephraim, Joshua 20:7; and so was in the hands of Ishbosheth the son of Saul; as the valley of Succoth, Gilead, Ephraim, and Manasseh, after mentioned, and all the tribes of Israel, were, but Judah, 2-Samuel 2:4; but, because of God's promise, David believed that they would be all in his possession; signified by dividing, as a land is divided for an inheritance when conquered, Joshua 13:7; or this is said in allusion to the dividing of spoils in a conquered place; and so the Targum,
"I will divide the prey with the children of Joseph, that dwell in Shechem;''
and as Shechem was the same with Sychar, near to which our Lord met with the Samaritan woman, and converted her, and many others of that place, then might he be said to divide the spoils there, John 4:5;
and mete out the valley of Succoth; with a measuring line, so taking possession of it, 2-Samuel 8:2; Succoth was near to Shechem, Genesis 33:17; and was in the tribe of Gad, and in a valley, Joshua 13:27; there was a Succoth in the plain of Jordan, 1-Kings 7:46; it signifies booths, tents, or tabernacles, and may mystically signify the churches of Christ, wherein he dwells and exercises his dominion.
(q) "in sanctuario suo", Tigurine version, Vatablus; "in sancto suo", V. L. Musculus, Cocceius.

If Christ be ours, all things, one way or another, shall be for our eternal good. The man who is a new creature in Christ, may rejoice in all the precious promises God has spoken in his holiness. His present privileges, and the sanctifying influences of the Spirit, are sure earnests of heavenly glory. David rejoices in conquering the neighbouring nations, which had been enemies to Israel. The Israel of God are through Christ more than conquerors. Though sometimes they think that the Lord has cast them off, yet he will bring them into the strong city at last. Faith in the promise will assure us that it is our Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom: But we are not yet made complete conquerors, and no true believer will abuse these truths to indulge sloth, or vain confidence. Hope in God is the best principle of true courage, for what need those fear who have God on their side? All our victories are from him, and while those who willingly submit to our anointed King shall share his glories, all his foes shall be put under his feet.

God hath spoken in--or, "by."
his holiness-- (Psalm 89:35; Amos 4:2), on the pledge of His attributes (Psalm 22:3; Psalm 30:4). Taking courage from God's promise to give them possession (Exodus 23:31; Deuteronomy 11:24) (and perhaps renewed to him by special revelation), with triumphant joy he describes the conquest as already made.
Shechem, and . . . Succoth--as widely separated points, and--

A divine utterance, promising him victory, which he has heard, is expanded in this second strophe. By reason of this he knows himself to be in the free and inalienable possession of the land, and in opposition to the neighbouring nations, Moab, Edom, and Philistia, to be the victorious lord to whom they must bow. The grand word of promise in 2-Samuel 7:9. is certainly sufficient in itself to make this feeling of certainty intelligible, and perhaps Psalm 60:8-10 are only a pictorial reproduction of that utterance; but it is also possible that at the time when Edom threatened the abandoned bordering kingdom, David received an oracle from the high priest by means of the Urim and Thummim, which assured him of the undiminished and continued possession of the Holy Land and the sovereignty over the bordering nations. That which God speaks "in His holiness" is a declaration or a promise for the sure fulfilment and inviolability of which He pledges His holiness; it is therefore equal to an oath "by His holiness" (Psalm 89:36; Amos 4:2). The oracle does not follow in a direct form, for it is not God who speaks (as Olshausen thinks), to whom the expression אעלזה is unbecoming, nor is it the people (as De Wette and Hengstenberg), but the king, since what follows refers not only to the districts named, but also to their inhabitants. כּי might have stood before אעלזה, but without it the mode of expression more nearly resembles the Latin me exultaturum esse (cf. Psalm 49:12). Shechem in the centre of the region on this side the Jordan, and the valley of Succoth in the heart of the region on the other side, from the beginning; for there is not only a [Arab.] sâkût (the name both of the eminence and of the district) on the west side of the Jordan south of Beisn (Scythopolis), but there must also have been another on the other side of the Jordan (Genesis 33:17., Judges 8:4.) which has not as yet been successfully traced. It lay in the vicinity of Jabbok (ez-Zerka), about in the same latitude with Shechem (Sichem), south-east of Scythopolis, where Estori ha-Parchi contends that he had found traces of it not far from the left bank of the Jordan. Joshua 13:27 gives some information concerning the עמק (valley) of Succoth. The town and the valley belonged to the tribe of Gad. Gilead, side by side with Manasseh, Psalm 60:9, comprehends the districts belonging to the tribes of Gad and Reuben. As far as Psalm 60:9, therefore, free dominion in the cis-and trans-Jordanic country is promised to David. The proudest predicates are justly given to Ephraim and Judah, the two chief tribes; the former, the most numerous and powerful, is David's helmet (the protection of his head), and Judah his staff of command (מחקק, the command-giving = staff of command, as in Genesis 49:10; Numbers 21:18); for Judah, by virtue of the ancient promise, is the royal tribe of the people who are called to the dominion of the world. This designation of Judah as the king's staff or sceptre and the marshal's baton shows that it is the king who is speaking, and not the people. To him, the king, who has the promise, are Joab, Edom, and Philistia subject, and will continue so. Joab the boastful serves him as a wash-basin;
(Note: A royal attendant, the tasht-dâr, cup-or wash-basin-bearer, carried the wash-basin for the Persian king both when in battle and on a journey (vid., Spiegel, Avesta ii. LXIX). Moab, says the Psalmist, not merely waits upon him with the wash-basin, but himself serves as such to him.)
Edom the crafty and malicious is forcibly taken possession of by him and obliged to submit; and Philistia the warlike is obliged to cry aloud concerning him, the irresistible ruler. סיר רחץ is a wash-pot or basin in distinction from a seething-pot, which is also called סיר. The throwing of a shoe over a territory is a sign of taking forcible possession, just as the taking off of the shoe (חליצה) is a sign of the renunciation of one's claim or right: the shoe is in both instances the symbol of legal possession.
(Note: The sandal or the shoe, I as an object of Arab. wt'̣, of treading down, oppressing, signifies metaphorically, (1) a man that is weak and incapable of defending himself against oppression, since one says, ma kuntu na‛lan, I am no shoe, i.e., no man that one can tread under his feet; (2) a wife (quae subjicitur), since one says, g'alaa‛ na‛lahu, he has taken off his shoe, i.e., cast off his wife (cf. Lane under Arab. ḥiḏa'â', which even signifies a shoe and a wife). II As an instrument of Arab. wṭ‛, tropically of the act of oppressing and of reducing to submission, the Arab. wa‛l serves as a symbol of subjugation to the dominion of another. Rosenmller (Das alte und neue Morgenland, No. 483) shows that the Abyssinian kings, at least, cast a shoe upon anything as a sign of taking forcible possession. Even supposing this usage is based upon the above passage of the Psalm, it proves, however, that a people thinking and speaking after the Oriental type associated this meaning with the casting of a shoe upon anything. - Fleischer. Cf. Wetzstein's Excursus at the end of this volume.)
The rendering of the last line, with Hitzig and Hengstenberg: "exult concerning me, O Philistia," i.e., hail me, though compelled to do so, as king, is forbidden by the עלי, instead of which we must have looked for לי. The verb רוּע certainly has the general signification "to break out into a loud cry," and like the Hiph. (e.g., Isaiah 15:4) the Hithpal. can also be used of a loud outcry at violence.

Rejoice - Therefore I will turn my prayers into praises, for what God has already done. Divide - Which supposeth possession and dominion. Shechem - A place within Jordan, in mount Ephraim. Succoth - A place without Jordan. He mentions Shechem, and Succoth; for all the land of Canaan, within and without Jordan.