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Christianity

Psalms 80The Vine Out of Egypt

Summary

Psalm 80, attributed to Asaph, is a lament addressed to the Shepherd of Israel who dwells between the cherubim, asking him to stir up his strength before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Its central image is Israel as a vine God brought out of Egypt and planted, now broken down and ravaged by a wild boar. A refrain asking God to turn his people again and make his face shine recurs three times. Many scholars link its focus on northern tribes with Assyria's conquest of the north.

Key verse

“Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.”

Psalms 80:3

Themes

  • Shepherd of Israel
  • Israel as God's Vine
  • Restoration
  • God's Shining Face

Text

1

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.

2

Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.

3

Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

4

O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?

5

Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.

6

Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.

7

Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

8

Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.

9

Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.

10

The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.

11

She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.

12

Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?

13

The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.

14

Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;

15

And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.

16

It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

17

Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.

18

So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.

19

Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.

Across traditions

  • Christianity

    Isaiah 5: The Song of the Vineyard

    Isaiah also pictures Israel as a vine God planted, but there the vineyard is laid waste as judgment for bearing wild grapes, whereas Psalm 80 pleads with God to return and protect it.

  • Christianity

    John 15: The True Vine

    Jesus calls himself the true vine and his disciples the branches. Many Christian readers connect this with the vine of Psalm 80 and the son of man at God's right hand in 80:17.

  • Christianity

    Numbers 6: The Priestly Blessing

    The refrain's plea that God cause his face to shine echoes the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:25, turning that blessing into a cry for national rescue.

Questions about Psalms 80

Who is the 'man of thy right hand' in Psalm 80?

Psalm 80:17 asks God's hand to rest on the man of his right hand, the son of man made strong for himself. In context it most likely means Israel or its king, while some Jewish and Christian interpreters have read it as pointing to the Messiah.

What does 'the boar out of the wood' refer to in Psalm 80?

Verse 13 pictures a wild boar and wild beasts ravaging the vine once its hedges are broken down. It is a figure for invaders destroying Israel, and the psalm does not name a particular nation.