Psalm 83:5-7

New Catholic Bible

Footnotes

1. Psalm 83:6 Alliance: there is no record of such a vast alliance of nations ever arrayed against Israel at one time. It may be that only some of them were attacking at the moment while passively being supported by the others. Some point to the time when Moab, Ammon, and Edom were invading Judah during the reign of King Jehoshaphat (see 2 Chr 20). Against you: the invaders acknowledge openly that the war is intended not only against the people but also against their God.
2. Psalm 83:7 The members of the hostile alliance are all well-known foes of Israel. The psalmist alludes to the Edomites, descendants of Esau, the son of the patriarch Isaac (see Gen 36), and the Ishmaelites, who descended from Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar (see Gen 16:15f); he also mentions the Moabites (see 2 Chr 20:1) and Ammonites, descendants of Lot, the nephew of Abraham (see Gen 19:38); next, he includes the Hagrites, an Arabian Bedouin tribe that was encamped on the border of the Syro-Arabian Desert (see 1 Chr 5:10, 19f). Other members were the inhabitants of Gebal, in the territory of the Edomites south of the Dead Sea (see Jos 13:5), and the Amalekites (see Gen 14:7). The Philistines, Israel’s foes along the Mediterranean coast of Palestine (see Ex 15:14), were also part of the alliance, as were the inhabitants of Tyre (see Isa 23:3). Assyria (see Gen 10:11) is mentioned as rendering assistance to the alliance; hence, it must not have become a major power in that area.