Psalms 83:13

“O my God, make them like a wheel, etc.] Which, as the Targum adds, is rolled, and goes on, and rests not in a declivity; let them be as fickle and inconstant as a wheel; being in high, let them be in slippery places, and brought down to desolation in a moment; like a wheel set running down hill, so let them swiftly and suddenly come to ruin; or be in all kind of calamities, and continual troubles f1195 as the wheel is always turning: some think there is an allusion to the wheel by which bread corn was bruised; (see <232828>Isaiah 28:28 <202026>Proverbs 20:26), but the word f1196 signifies a rolling thing before the wind, as a wisp of straw or stubble, which is easily carried away with it:…”

“O my God, make them like a wheel ... - Or rather, like a rolling thing - something that the wind rolls along. The word גלגל galgal - means properly a wheel, as of a chariot, Ezekiel 10:2, Ezekiel 10:6; or a wheel for drawing water from a well, Ecclesiastes 12:6; then, a whirlwind, Psalms 77:19; and then, anything driven before a whirlwind, as chaff, or stubble, Isaiah 17:13. Compare the notes at Isaiah 22:18. The prayer here is, that they might be utterly destroyed, or driven away. return to 'Top of Page'”

“A wheel - Whereas they promise to themselves a sure possession, let them be like a wheel, which is very unstable, and soon removed. Psalms 83:14”

“83:13 tumbleweed . . . chaff: This dry plant material easily blows away (see Isa 17:13).”

“O my: Psa 22:1, Psa 44:4, Psa 74:11, Psa 74:12 like: Isa 17:12-14 as the: Psa 35:5, Psa 68:1, Psa 68:2; Exo 15:7; Job 13:25, Job 21:18; Isa 40:24, Isa 41:2; Jer 13:24; Mat 3:12 Psalms 83:14”

“With the אלהי, which constrains God in faith, the "thundering down" begins afresh. גּלגּל signifies a wheel and a whirling motion, such as usually arises when the wind changes suddenly, then also whatever is driven about in the whirling, Isa 17:13. (Note: Saadia, who renders the גּלגּל in Psa 77:19 as an astronomical expression with Arab. 'l-frk, the sphere of the heavens, here has professedly Arab. kâlgrâblt, which would be a plural from expanded out of Arab. grâbı̂l, "sieves" or "tambourines;" it is, however, to be read, as in Isa 17:13, Codex Oxon., Arab. kâlgirbâlt. The verb Arab. garbala, "to sift," is transferred to the wind, e.g., in Mutanabbi (edited with Wahidi's commentary by…”