I have a question about Psalm 83:2-3. “For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.” What does the phrase “hidden ones” mean in verse 3?
Hebrew poetry uses the “rhyming” or repetition of ideas rather than the rhyming of words that we’re used to. An example can be found in 1 Chron. 16:13 “O descendants of Israel his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.” The references to Jacob and Israel are obviously to the same people.
The Hebrew word translated hidden ones in Psalm 83:3 KJV can mean to treasure as well as to hide. In Exodus 19:5 God called Israel his peculiar treasure. Therefore it makes sense that the psalmist was using “hidden ones” as a repetition of the phrase “my people”.
Other English language versions confirm this. For instance, the NASB translates verse 3 as, “They make shrewd plans against Your people, and conspire together against Your treasured ones.”