1 Behold, how good and how pleasant [it is]
That brethren dwell in unity!
2 Like the precious oil on the head,
Flowing down on the beard,
[Even] Aaron's beard,
That flows down on the opening of his garments.
3 Like the dew of Hermon, that flows down on the mountains of Zion.
For there Jehovah has commanded the blessing,
Life for evermore.
It is natural to suppose that this psalm was occasioned by, or at
least refers to, the gathering of the pilgrims or restored exiles
in Jerusalem. The patriot-poet's heart glows at the sight of the
assembled multitudes, and he points with exultation to the good and
fair sight. Like the other short psalms in this group, this one is
the expression of a single thought--the blessing of unity, and that
not merely as shown in the family, but in the church-state of the
restored Israel. The remembrance of years of scattering among the
nations, and of the schism of the Northern tribes, makes the sight of
an united Israel the more blessed, even though its numbers are small.
The psalm begins with a "Behold," as if the poet would summon others
to look on the goodly spectacle which, in reality or in imagination,
is spread before him. Israel is gathered together, and the sight is
good, as securing substantial benefits, and "pleasant," as being
lovely. The original in ver. 1_b_ runs, "That brethren dwell _also_
together." The "also" suggests that, in addition to local union,
there should be heart harmony, as befits brothers. To speak in modern
dialect, the psalmist cares little for external unity, if the spirit
of oneness does not animate the corporate whole.
His two lovely metaphors or parables set forth the same
thought--namely, the all-diffusive, all-blessing nature of such inward
concord. The repetition in both figures of the same word, "flows down,"
is not merely due to the "step-like" structure common to this with
other of the pilgrim psalms, but is the key to its meaning.
In the first emblem, the consecrating oil, poured on Aaron's head,
represents the gracious spirit of concord between brethren. The emblem
is felicitous by reason of the preciousness, the fragrance, and the
manifold uses of oil; but these are only to be taken into account in a
subordinate degree, if at all. The one point of comparison is the flow
of the oil from the priestly head on to the beard and thence to the
garments. It is doubtful whether ver. 2_d_ refers to the oil or to the
beard of the high priest. The latter reference is preferred by many,
but the former is more accordant with the parallelism, and with the use
of the word "flows down," which can scarcely be twice used in regard
to oil and dew, the main subjects in the figures, and be taken in an
entirely different reference in the intervening clause. The "opening"
(lit. _mouth_) of the robe is the upper edge or collar, the aperture
through which the wearer's head was passed.
The second figure illustrates the same thought of the diffusive
blessing of concord, but it presents some difficulty. How can the
dew of Hermon in the far north fall on the mountains of Zion? Some
commentators, as Delitzsch, try to make out that "an abundant dew in
Jerusalem might rightly be accounted for by the influence of the cold
current of air sweeping down from the north over Hermon." But that is
a violent supposition; and there is no need to demand meteorological
accuracy from a poet. It is the one dew which falls on both mountains;
and since Hermon towers high above the lower height of Zion, and is
visited with singular abundance of the nightly blessing, it is no
inadmissible poetic licence to say that the loftier hill transmits it
to the lesser. Such community of blessing is the result of fraternal
concord, whereby the high serve the lowly, and no man grudgingly keeps
anything to himself, but all share in the good of each. Dew, like oil,
is fitted for this symbolic use, by reason of qualities which, though
they do not come prominently into view, need not be wholly excluded.
It refreshes the thirsty ground and quickens vegetation; so fraternal
concord, falling gently on men's spirits, and linking distant ones
together by a mysterious chain of transmitted good, will help to revive
failing strength and refresh parched places.
That brotherly unity is blessed, not only because it diffuses
itself, and so blesses all in whose hearts it dwells, but also
because it is the condition on which still higher gifts are spread
among brethren by their brethren's mediation. God Himself pours on
men the sacred anointing of His Divine Spirit and the dew of His
quickening influences. When His servants are knit together, as they
should be, they impart to one another the spiritual gifts received
from above. When Christians are truly one as brethren, God's grace
will fructify through each to all.
Ver. 3_b_, _c_, seem to assign the reason why the dew of Hermon
will descend on Zion--_i.e._, why the blessings of brotherly concord
should there especially be realised. There God has appointed to be
stored His blessing of life; therefore it becomes those who, dwelling
there, receive that blessing, to be knit together in closest bonds,
and to impart to their brethren what they receive from the Fountain
of all good. That Zion should not be the home of concord, or that
Jerusalem should not be the city of peace, contradicts both the name
of the city and the priceless gift which Jehovah has placed there for
all its citizens.