Pensée juive sur Les Psaumes 12:6

THE term kam (he rose) is a homonym. In one of its significations it is the opposite of “to sit,” as “He did not rise (kam) nor move for him” (Esth. 5:9). It further denotes the confirmation and verification of a thing, e.g.: “The Lord will verify (yakem) His promise” (1 Sam. 1:23); “The field of Ephron was made sure (va-yakom) as the property of Abraham” (Gen. 23:17). “The house that is in the walled city shall be established (ve-kam)” (Lev. 25:30); “And the kingdom of Israel shall be firmly established (ve-kamah) in thy hand” (1 Sam. 24:21). It is always in this sense that the verb is employed with reference to the Almighty; as “Now shall I rise (akum), saith the Lord” (Ps. 12:6), which is the same as saying, “Now shall I verify my word and my dispensation for good or evil.” “Thou shalt arise (takum) and have mercy upon Zion” (Ps. 102:13), which means: Thou wilt establish what thou hast promised, viz., that thou wouldst pity Zion.

Generally a person who resolves to set about a matter, accompanies his resolve by rising, hence the verb is employed to express “to resolve” to do a certain thing; as, “That my son hath stirred up my servant against me” (1 Sam. 22:8). The word is figuratively used to signify the execution of a divine decree against a people sentenced to extermination, as “And I will rise against the house of Jeroboam” (Amos 7:9); “but he will arise against the house of the evildoers” (Isa. 31:2). Possibly in Psalm 12:6 the verb has this latter sense, as also in Psalm 102:13, namely: Thou wilt rise up against her enemies.