Break the arm of the wicked. As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none.
Parallel Translations
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Break the arm of the wicked. As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none.
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Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
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Break Thou the arm of the wicked; and as for the evil man, search out his wickedness, till none be found.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Psalms 10:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 38:15 From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken.
- Psalms 37:17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but Yahweh upholds the righteous.
- Zephaniah 1:12 It will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, “Yahweh will not do good, neither will he do evil.”
- Psalms 7:9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.
- Ezekiel 30:21-22 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Behold, it has not been bound up, to apply medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it become strong to hold the sword. Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong arm, and that which was broken. I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.
- Jeremiah 2:34 Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts. You didn’t find them breaking in, but it is because of all these things.
- Zechariah 11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will be on his arm, and on his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!”
- Psalms 3:7 Arise, Yahweh! Save me, my God! For you have struck all of my enemies on the cheek bone. You have broken the teeth of the wicked.
- Ezekiel 23:48 “ ‘Thus I will cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to be lewd like you.
- 2 Kings 21:12-15 therefore Yahweh the God of Israel says, ‘Behold, I bring such evil on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of Ahab’s house; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will cast off the remnant of my inheritance, and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. They will become a prey and a plunder to all their enemies, because they have done that which is evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’ ”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 15. Break thou the arm. This form of expression…
15. Break thou the arm. This form of expression just means breaking the power of the wicked. And it is not simply a prayer; it may also be regarded as a prophecy. As the ungovernable fury of our enemies very often makes us lose courage, as if there were no means by which it could be restrained, David, in order to support his faith, and preserve it from failing through the fears which presented themselves, sets before himself the consideration, that whenever it shall please God to break the power of the ungodly, he will bring to nothing both themselves and all their schemes. To make the meaning the more evident, the sentence may be explained in this way, — Lord, as soon as it shall seem good to thee to break the arm of the wicked, thou wilt destroy him in a moment, and bring to nought his powerful and violent efforts in the work of doing mischief. David, indeed, beseeches God to hasten his assistance and his vengeance; but, in the meantime, while these are withheld, he sustains himself by the consolatory reflection, that the ungodly cannot break forth into violence and mischief except in so far as God permits them; since it is in his power, whenever he ascends into the judgment-seat, to destroy them even with his look alone. And certainly, as the rising sun dissipates the clouds and vapours by his heat, and clears up the dark air, so God, when he stretches forth his hand to execute the office of a Judge, restores to tranquillity and order all the troubles and confusions of the world. The Psalmist calls the person of whom he speaks not only wicked, but the wicked and the evil man, and he does so, in my judgment, for the purpose of setting forth in a stronger light the greatness of the wickedness of the character which he describes. His words are as if he had said, Wicked men may even be frantic in their malice and impiety; but God can promptly and effectually remedy this evil whenever he pleases.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain For thou hast utterly destroyed him.
For thou hast utterly destroyed him.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 10:15 Break thou the arm of the wicked…
Psa 10:15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil [man]: seek out his wickedness [till] thou find none.
Ver. 15. Break thou the arm of the wicked] That arm that hath been lifted up against the godly. See Psa 3:8; Psa 58:7.
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Seek out his wickedness till thou find none] Ad alios vel inficiendos, vel infestandos, Eze 23:48. Or, leave no sin of his unpunished. The Franciscans, to prove that Francis, the founder of their order, was without sin, foolishly allege this text, Quaeretur peccatum illius et non invenietur; wherein (according to the sense of the psalmist) what do they else but wish that God would trace him quite through the course and trade of his iniquities, even to the uttermost end of them, and punish him accordingly; which is done, no doubt, long since.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Break thou; or, Thou wilt break. For it may…
Break thou; or, Thou wilt break. For it may be either a prayer or a prophecy.
The arm, i.e. his strength, the instrument of violence and mischief.
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Seek out his wickedness; search for it so strictly, and punish these wicked atheists so severely.
Till thou find none, i.e. no such wickedness, to wit, undiscovered and unpunished, or indeed left in the world, or at least in the church; which might happen, because those wicked men here spoken of should be generally either convinced or rooted out, and the rest should be warned and reformed by their example, and so this lewdness should cease out of the land, as the phrase is, Eze 23:48. That is said to be sought for, and not found, which is utterly lost, as Job 20:7,8; Psa 37:36; Rev 16:20; 18:21. And this phrase is used both of good men, whose sins are taken away by God’s grace and mercy, pardoning and purging them away, and of wicked men in the sense above mentioned.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Break thou the arm of the wicked and the…
Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man,.... His power and strength, so that he shall not be able to hold the sword, to strike a blow, or do any hurt to the people of God; see Eze 30:21. This prayer is in some measure already fulfilled in antichrist, the man of sin, or pope of Rome; though his kingdom is not broke to pieces; as it will be when Christ's kingdom shall be more visibly set up, to which reference is had in Psa 10:16; see Dan 2:44; yet his strength is weakened, his arm is broken, he has not the power he had, nor can he tyrannise and do the mischief he once did: "but as for the evil man" (m), for so the words should be read, there being an "athnach" under the word "wicked", which ends the proposition there:
seek out his wickedness till thou find none; which designs a thorough search after sin, full punishment of it, and the entire ruin and destruction of the wicked; and the sense is, that God would make a strict inquiry into the wickedness of the man of sin, which he promised himself he would not, Psa 10:13; and that he would punish him and his followers to the uttermost for it, until there should not be one of the antichristian party found upon earth; with which sense agrees Psa 10:16; see Psa 104:35.
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(m) "improbum quod attinet, requiras", &c. Gejerus; so Michaelis.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Seek - Search for it, and punish these wicked…
Seek - Search for it, and punish these wicked atheists. 'Till - No such wickedness be left in the world, or at least in the church.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. Break thou the arm] Destroy his power,…
Verse 15. Break thou the arm] Destroy his power, deprive him of his influence, that he may be no longer able to oppress.
Seek out his wickedness till thou find none.] All his public haunts and private ways shall be investigated; thou wilt bring all his villanies to light, and continue to inflict punishment, while there is a crime to punish. Or, "Continue to judge and punish transgressors, till not one is to be found." This agrees with the following verse.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 10:15. Break thou the arm of the wicked…
Psa 10:15. Break thou the arm of the wicked — That is, their strength, the instrument of their violence and cruelty. Deprive them of all power to do mischief. Seek out his wickedness — Search for it, and punish these wicked atheists; till thou find none — Till no such wickedness be left in the world, or at least, in the church. “This,” says Dr. Horne, “may be either a prayer or a prediction, implying that the time will come when the power of Jehovah will dash in pieces that of the enemy, by the demolition either of sin or the sinner, until wickedness be come utterly to an end, and righteousness be established for ever in the kingdom of Messiah.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Break thou the arm of the wicked - The…
Break thou the arm of the wicked - The arm is the instrument by which we effect a purpose, and especially in wielding a sword or a spear, as in battle; and if the arm is broken, we are powerless. The psalmist, therefore, prays that God would render the wicked, in this respect, powerless.
And the evil man - Of all the evil, or the wicked. In regard to the prayer here, see the note at Psa 5:10.
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Seek out his wickedness until thou find none - Until it is all punished; until there has been a full recompense. This is a wish that no wicked act of his should be forgotten; that exact justice should be rendered. If it is right to punish the wicked at all, it is right to deal with them just as they deserve; if any wickedness may properly be punished, all may be; and, whatever may occur, the sinner may be assured that he will not be punished merely for a part of his sins. If God punishes the wicked at all, there will be nothing left unpunished.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain till thou find none--So far from not requiting (Psa…
arm--power.
till thou find none--So far from not requiting (Psa 10:11, Psa 10:13), God will utterly destroy the wicked and his deeds (Psa 9:5-6; Psa 34:16; Psa 37:36).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 15. Seek out—Thou wilt seek out. This stands opposed…
15. Seek out—Thou wilt seek out. This stands opposed to the doctrine of the wicked in Psa_10:13, where, using the same word, they say: “God will not require, or seek out,” the sin, to punish it.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 15. Break &c.] Paralyse his power to do mischief.…
15. Break &c.] Paralyse his power to do mischief. Cp. Psa_37:17; Job_38:15.
of the wicked and the evil man] So the ancient versions, taking the most obvious division of the words. R.V. follows the accentuation of the Hebrew text in rendering, and as for the evil man, seek out &c.
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seek out &c.] Lit. when thou requirest his wickedness, thou shall not find. The word is the same as that used in Psa_9:12 and in Psa_10:4; Psa_10:13. The Psalmist looks forward to a time when the wicked will be powerless to do harm. When God ‘makes inquisition’ and holds His assize, He will find no crime to punish, cp. Psa_17:3. There may be an allusion to the proverbial phrase ‘to seek and not find,’ used in reference to what has utterly disappeared (Psa_37:36), but a special word for ‘seek’ is chosen for the sake of the allusion indicated.
15, 16. Stanza of Shin. Prayer for the extermination of evil, based on the facts of faith and history.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (15) Seek out.—The meaning of the verse is clear,…
(15) Seek out.—The meaning of the verse is clear, from Psa_37:36, and Isa_41:12, where we see that to seek and not find was a proverb expressing “riddance of evil;” but the construction is difficult. The first clause should end at “wicked,” the words “and the evil” being absolute; and the verbs, which are in form either second or third person, should be taken in the second. Translate, and as for the evil man, thou shalt look for his wickedness, and not find it (thou=anybody, which preserves the proverbial tone. So the LXX., “his sin shall be sought, and not be found “).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man
Break the arm of the wicked and evil man
Here "arm" represents power. AT: "Destroy the power of the wicked and evil man" or "Make the wicked and evil man weak" (See: Metonymy)
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wicked and evil
These words have the same meaning. You can use one word to express both concepts. (See: Doublet)
Make him account for his evil deeds
Making someone account for his evil deeds represents punishing him. AT: "Punish him for the evil things he has done" (See: Metonymy)
the nations are driven out of his land
This can be stated in active form. "Yahweh forces the people of other nations to leave his land" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
works
king
nation
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 10:15 The psalmist strongly invokes a curse as he…
10:15 The psalmist strongly invokes a curse as he prays (see “Prayers for Vengeance” Theme Note). • Arms represent an ability to wage war (18:34; 44:3).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.