Psalms 78:67

Moreover he rejected the tent of Joseph, and didn’t choose the tribe of Ephraim,

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Other translations

WEBBE

Moreover he rejected the tent of Joseph, and didn’t choose the tribe of Ephraim,

BSB

He rejected the tent of Joseph and refused the tribe of Ephraim.

KJV

Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:

ASV

Moreover he refused the tent of Joseph, And chose not the tribe of Ephraim,

BBE

And he put the tent of Joseph on one side, and took not the tribe of Ephraim;

Original Hebrew

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The early church

"And He smote His enemies in the hinder parts" [Psalm 78:66]: those, to wit, who were rejoicing that they were able to take His Ark: for they were smitten in their back-parts. [1 Samuel 5:6] Which seems to me to be a sign of that punishment, wherewith a man will be tortured, if he shall have looked back upon things behind; which, as says the Apostle, he ought to value as dung. [Philippians 3:8] For they that do so receive the Testament of God, as that they put not off from them the old vanity, are like the hostile nations, who did place the captured Ark of the Testament beside their own idols. And yet those old things even though these be unwilling do fall: for "all flesh is hay, and the glory of man as the flower of hay. The hay has dried up, and the flower has fallen off:" [Isaiah 40:6-7] but the Ark of the Lord "abides for everlasting," to wit, the secret testament of the kingdom of Heaven, where is the eternal Word of God. But they that have loved things behind, because of these very things most justly shall be tormented. For "everlasting reproach He has given to them." [Psalm 78:67].
Augustine of Hippo · d. 430Expositions on the Psalms

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 56–72

After the Israelites were settled in Canaan, the children were like their fathers. God gave them his testimonies, but they turned back. Presumptuous sins render even Israelites hateful to God's holiness, and exposed to his justice. Those whom the Lord forsakes become an easy prey to the destroyer. And sooner or later, God will disgrace his enemies. He set a good government over his people; a monarch after his own heart. With good reason does the psalmist make this finishing, crowning instance of God's favour to Israel; for David was a type of Christ, the great and good Shepherd, who was humbled first, and then exalted; and of whom it was foretold, that he should be filled with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. On the uprightness of his heart, and the skilfulness of his hands, all his subjects may rely; and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. Every trial of human nature hitherto, confirms the testimony of Scripture, that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, and nothing but being created anew by the Holy Ghost can cure the ungodliness of any.

Read Matthew Henry on Psalm 78 →

Spurgeon · Verse 67

Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph. God had honoured Ephraim, for to that tribe belonged Joshua the great conqueror, and Gideon the great judge, and within its borders was Shiloh the place of the ark and the sanctuary; but now the Lord would change all this and set up other rulers. He would no longer leave matters to the leadership of Ephraim, since that tribe had been tried and found wanting. And chose not the tribe of Ephraim. Sin had been found in them, folly and instability, and therefore they were set aside as unfit to lead.

Read Spurgeon on Psalm 78 →

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Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.