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the Son" and here it seems clear that the Septuagint translators did understand the original
Hebrew. Psa. 8: concerns the first Adam, the son of God and his earthly dominion,
typical of the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 2: 6-9) and His final exaltation over
all creation. This tremendous truth was not revealed at once in the Scriptures. Little by
little the divine purpose concerning His final triumph is revealed and comes to its climax
in Eph. 1: and Phil. 2: In Ephesians Paul declares his knowledge concerning the Secret
(mystery) of Christ, revealed to him by that same exalted One and in his allusion to
Psalm 8: (Eph. 1: 17-23) dominion over earthly things gives way to universal
dominion in heaven as well as earth (verses 20-22). Here the secret concerning the
Lord's final exaltation "far above all" is revealed in all its fulness. Those who want fuller
details should consult The Alphabetical Analysis Part 4 p.211.
Mahalath.
This word is connected with Psa. 52: (not 53:) and is linked with the word leannoth
with reference to Psa. 87: (not 88:). As opposed to the above, it is evident
here that the translators of the Septuagint were baffled, for they do not attempt to
translate the word but just transliterate it as macleth which has no meaning whatsoever.
Some ancient interpreters rendered the word For, or in the Dance, but could see no
connection with this title and the psalms to which it is attached (53: and 88:) in our
English translation. Directly they are linked with the previous Psalms the meaning
becomes clear. In Psa. 52: the reference is to the Lord's deliverance of Israel from the
Philistines and Goliath's blasphemous challenge (1-5). If we turn to I Sam. 18: 6, 7
we read that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, which
expressed their rejoicing concerning David's victory over Goliath. Twice afterwards this
event was referred to as a great historical event (I Sam. 21: 11 and 29: 5).
The dancings and shouting (Mahalath leannoth) the title connected with Psa. 87:
(not 88:) surely refer to the significant event in David's life when the Ark was
restored to Israel after being taken by the Philistines.
When David came to the throne, his first action was to bring up the Ark of God to
Zion and II Sam. 6: gives us the account of this great event. In verses 14 and 15 we
read:
"And David danced before the Lord with all his might . . . . . so David and all the
house of Israel brought up the Ark of Jehovah with shouting and with the sound of the
trumpet."
It was a time of great rejoicing. There was only one fit place for the Ark of God and
that was Zion. Other places might make their boast and set forth their claims. Men
might claim their citizenship of other cities, but there was one city that God delighted in
and was yet to be the joy of the whole earth. The time would surely come when all the
other boasts of earthly cities would fade into nothingness beside the privilege of being
born in and belonging to Zion (Jerusalem). In the future earthly kingdom, it is this city
that will be the premier one on the earth, both spiritually and commercially and from this