Psalms 78:57

“But turned back, etc.] From God and his worship, apostatized from the true religion, and turned to idols: and dealt unfaithfully, like their fathers; in the wilderness; (see <197808>Psalm 78:8,36,37), they were turned aside like a deceitful bow; that promises well to carry the arrow right, but drops it at the feet of the archer; or carries it another way, so that it misses the mark, The Targum is, “as a bow casting arrows;” to the ground, and not to the mark; (see <280716>Hosea 7:16), or being too much stretched is suddenly broken, and kills the archer; or returns to its own nature; so Arama.”

“But turned back ... - See the notes at Psalms 78:41. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow - literally, a bow of deceit. That is, a bow that could not be depended on; a bow, one of whose arms was longer or more elastic than the other, so that the arrow would turn aside from the mark. The marksman would attempt to hit an object, and would fail. So it was with the people of Israel. They could not be depended on. No reliance could be put on their promises, their covenant-engagements, their attachment, their fidelity, for in these things they failed, as the arrow from a deceitful bow would fail to strike the mark. Their whole history shows how just was this charge; alas! the history of…”

“Deceitful bow - Which either breaks when it is drawn, or shoots awry, and frustrates the archer's expectation. Psalms 78:59”

“But: Psa 78:41; Jdg 3:5-7, Jdg 3:12; Eze 20:27, Eze 20:28 they were: Psa 78:8, 10-37; Hos 7:16 Psalms 78:58”