Ps. 78.9 (sons of rebellion)

The sons of Ephraim / well equipped bowmen
turned back / on the day of battle. 

Although it is a customary usage to designate a group (or, tribe) by the identity of their fore-runner (the ‘sons of Ephraim’), in the context of this psalm there is a deeper significance. From verse 3 onward the transmission of the story has not been merely one within the ‘people of God’ but, more specifically, on that descends and is perpetuated by “father to son”. It is an intra-family passing down. The psalmist is intent on this aspect of the tradition. With that in mind, the fact that the first party to be specified in the psalm is a “son of…” is not coincidental. As a ‘son’ they are, or should be, the recipient of the story that perpetuates the event of God’s deliverance and ties the family together into a single living chain. As sons they should, as the immediately preceding verse emphasizes, have a ‘steady heart’ and have a spirit ‘faithful to God’. That is what it means to be a son in this psalm. That is what we should find here. This sense is only increased in the following description of them as “well equipped bowmen”. Not only are the recipients of a story that should bind them in devotion to God, but they are also physically and technically skilled at war. We might say that ‘vertically and horizontally’ these ‘sons of Erphaim’ should represent the pinnacle of the receiving “generation” contemplated in the psalm. Everything about these sons indicates success. And yet, that is not the case. Almost Adam-like, the immediate appearance of a specific group is the immediate introduction of failure. This dynamic begins here and will flow throughout the remainder of the psalm up to the concluding verses, where the ‘true son’ will be revealed (David, the adopted son of God; Ps. 2). What we will find is that everything done on behalf of the people should point to an utter and complete faithfulness on their part but, instead, it only seems to produce an inconceivable rebellion. Just like these “sons of…”, so too will Israel take their bearings from them. In a sense, they all will be these sons acting in rebellion (until David appears to unite and pacify them). Finally, the failure of the ‘sons of Ephraim’ is not merely a generalized failure. Rather, ti is one that occurs at the precise moment that they should succeed (the ‘day of battle’). This too is important and will thematically flow from here on—failure at the precise moment when faithfulness should be found.