8 He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.
9 He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush. He lies in wait to catch the helpless. He catches the helpless when he draws him in his net.
10 The helpless are crushed. They collapse. They fall under his strength.
KJVKing James Version
8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.
9 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.
10 He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.
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JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
8 He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages; in secret places doth he slay the innocent; his eyes are on the watch for the helpless.
9 He lieth in wait in a secret place as a lion in his lair, he lieth in wait to catch the poor; he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him up in his net.
10 He croucheth, he boweth down, and the helpless fall into his mighty claws.
Psalms 17:12(v9)He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
1 Samuel 18:21-26(v10)Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul…
Psalms 59:3(v9)For, behold, they lie in wait for my soul. The mighty gather themselves together against me, not for my disobedience, nor for my sin,…
Habakkuk 3:14(vv8–9)You pierced the heads of his warriors with their own spears. They came as a whirlwind to scatter me, gloating as if to devour the wretched…
1 Samuel 23:21-22(v10)Saul said, “You are blessed by Yahweh; for you have had compassion on me. Please go make yet more sure, and know and see his place where…
Show all 40 cross-references
Micah 7:2(v9)The godly man has perished out of the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his…
1 Samuel 2:36(v10)It will happen that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and will…
1 Samuel 22:18(v8)The king said to Doeg, “Turn and attack the priests!” Doeg the Edomite turned, and he attacked the priests, and he killed on that day…
2 Samuel 15:5(v10)It was so, that when any man came near to bow down to him, he stretched out his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him.
Psalms 35:10(v9)All my bones shall say, “Yahweh, who is like you, who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him; yes, the poor and the needy…
Jeremiah 22:17(v8)But your eyes and your heart are only for your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, for oppression, and for doing violence.”
1 Samuel 23:23(v8)See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides himself, and come again to me with certainty, and I will go with…
2 Kings 21:16(v8)Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; in addition to his sin with which…
Job 5:15-16(v9)But he saves from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty. So the poor has hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.
Psalms 12:5(v9)“Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says Yahweh; “I will set him in safety…
Psalms 17:11(v8)They have now surrounded us in our steps. They set their eyes to cast us down to the earth.
Psalms 94:6(v8)They kill the widow and the alien, and murder the fatherless.
Psalms 140:5(v9)The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me.
Proverbs 1:11-12(v8)If they say, “Come with us. Let’s lay in wait for blood. Let’s lurk secretly for the innocent without cause. Let’s swallow them up alive…
Proverbs 6:12-13(v8)A worthless person, a man of iniquity, is he who walks with a perverse mouth, who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, who…
Proverbs 14:31(v9)He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him.
Proverbs 22:16(v9)Whoever oppresses the poor for his own increase and whoever gives to the rich, both come to poverty.
Proverbs 28:15(v9)As a roaring lion or a charging bear, so is a wicked ruler over helpless people.
Isaiah 3:15(v9)What do you mean that you crush my people, and grind the face of the poor?” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
Isaiah 32:7(v9)The ways of the scoundrel are evil. He devises wicked plans to destroy the humble with lying words, even when the needy speaks right.
Lamentations 3:10(v9)He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
Ezekiel 22:29(v9)The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery. Yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the…
Amos 2:6-7(v9)Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have sold the righteous…
Amos 3:4(v9)Will a lion roar in the thicket, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
Amos 5:11-12(v9)Therefore, because you trample on the poor, and take taxes from him of wheat: You have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in…
Nahum 2:11-12(v9)Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion’s cubs, and no one…
Zechariah 11:3(v9)A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! For their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions! For the pride of the Jordan…
Luke 8:1(v8)Soon afterwards, he went about through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of God’s Kingdom. With him were the twelve,
John 10:12(v9)He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches…
Psalms 37:14(v9)The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to kill those who are upright on the path.
Jeremiah 5:26(v9)For wicked men are found among my people. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men.
Ezekiel 19:3-6(v9)She brought up one of her cubs. He became a young lion. He learned to catch the prey. He devoured men. The nations also heard of him. He…
Habakkuk 1:15(v9)He takes up all of them with the hook. He catches them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad.
Luke 10:1(v8)Now after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place where he…
Acts 23:21(v9)Therefore don’t yield to them, for more than forty men lie in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse to neither eat nor…
40 distinct cross-references across this passage (41 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv8–108. He will sit in the ensnaring places of…
8. He will sit in the ensnaring places of the villages. Horsley renders the eighth verse thus:
“He sitteth in ambush* in the villages in secret places; He murdereth the innocent; his eyes are ever watching for the helpless.”
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And he has the following note: ”Symmachus and St Jerome certainly read thus ישכ מארב בחצרים, and they both render, ה, as a participle. ‘He sitteth prowling about the farm-houses.’ This I take to be the true reading and the true rendering. The image is that of a beast of prey of the lesser order, a fox or a wolf, lying upon the watch about the farm-yard in the evening.”
*Or, “he sitteth prowling about the farmyard.”
Bishop Mant reads “peering eyes.” Concerning the word, says he, “which I have rendered peering, Parkhurst says that it is applied to winking or half closing the eyes in order to see more distinctly. The Septuagint and Vulgate translations, which mean look at, behold, give the general sense, but not the beautiful image expressed in the Hebrew.”
“Qui sont parmi les bois.” — Fr
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 translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv8, 10He showeth that the wicked have many means to…
He showeth that the wicked have many means to hide their cruelty, and therefore ought more to be feared.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv8–10Psa 10:8 He sitteth in the lurking places of…
Psa 10:8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.
Ver. 8. He sitteth in the lurking places, &c.] A. description of a highway robber, saith Diodati, under which name are meant all violent and fraudulent men, and their actions.
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 Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv8–10In the lurking places of the villages; not within…
In the lurking places of the villages; not within the villages, which is not a fit place for lurking; but about them, in the ways bordering upon them, or leading to them, as robbers use to do.
In the secret places, that he may avoid the shame and punishment of men; which is the only thing that he fears.
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Are privily set, Heb. are hid. The sense is either,
1. He winketh as men do when they shoot their arrows at a mark. Or rather,
2. He watcheth and looketh out of his lurking-place, to spy what passengers come that way. He alludes still to the practices of robbers.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv8–10He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages,....…
He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages,.... Which were by the wayside, where thieves and robbers harboured, and out of which they came, and robbed passengers as they came by. The word (f) signifies "palaces" or "courts": and so it is rendered by the Chaldee paraphrase and Syriac version; and so the allusion is not to mean thieves and robbers, but to persons of note and figure. Hence the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, render it, "he sitteth in lurking places with the rich"; and may be fitly applied to the pope and his cardinals. Antichrist sits in the temple of God, and by his emissaries gets into the villages, the particular churches and congregations of saints, where they lie in ambush to do mischief, to corrupt their faith, worship, and manners; and like thieves and robbers enter in to steal, kill, and destroy;
in secret places doth he murder the innocent; the harmless lambs and sheep of Christ; who, though they are not without sin in themselves, yet are innocent with respect to the cause and the things for which they suffer: these are the saints and prophets and martyrs of Jesus, whose blood is shed by antichrist; and the taking away of their lives is reckoned murder with God; and is so styled in the Scriptures, Rev 9:21; though the antichristian party call it doing God good service, and impute it to zeal for the good of holy church; and yet this they choose to do in secret, by private massacres, or by the inquisition; which having condemned men to death, delivers them over to the secular power to execute the sentence on them: just as the Jews delivered Christ to the Roman governor, to shift off the sin and blame from themselves; murder being what no one cares to be known in, or chargeable with;
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his eyes are privily set against the poor: the word rendered "poor", is used nowhere but in this psalm, in which it is used three times, here, and in Psa 10:1; and in the plural number in Psa 10:10. It is translated "poor" both in the Chaldee paraphrase and Septuagint version, and in those that follow them. In the Arabic language it signifies "black" (g), and may design such who are black by reason of persecution and affliction, who go mourning all the day long on account of sin, their own and others; and because of the distresses and calamities of the church and people of God. These the eyes of the wicked watch and observe, and are set against them to do them all the mischief they can; their eyes are full of envy and indignation at them, though it is all in a private and secret way. The allusion is to thieves and robbers, who hide themselves in some secret place, and from thence look out for them that pass by, and narrowly observe whether they are for their purpose, and when it will be proper to come out and seize upon them.
(f) Symmachus in Drusius; "atriorum", Munster; so Hammond, Ainsworth, & Michaelis. (g) "Chalae, valde niger fuit", Golius, col. 646.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv8, 10Sitteth - Not within the villages, but in the…
Sitteth - Not within the villages, but in the ways bordering upon them, or leading to them, as robbers use to do. Are set - Hebrew. Are hid. He watches and looks out of his lurking-place. He alludes still to the practices of robbers.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv8, 10Verse 8. He sitteth in the lurking places] In…
Verse 8. He sitteth in the lurking places] In this and the following verse there appears to be an allusion to espionage, or setting of spies on a man's conduct; or to the conduct of an assassin or private murderer. He sitteth in lurking places-in secret places; his eyes-spies-are privily set; he lieth in wait secretly: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. He is like a hunter that lays his traps and gins, digs his pits, sets his nets; and when the prey falls into them, he destroys its life.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv8, 10Psa 10:8-9. He sitteth in the lurking places of…
Psa 10:8-9. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages — Not within the villages, but in the ways bordering upon them, or leading to them, as robbers used to do. In the secret places — That he may avoid the shame and punishment of men; which is the only thing that he fears. His eyes are privily set — Hebrew, יצפנו, jitzponu, delitescunt, lie hid; skulk, or lurk. He watches, and looks out of his lurking place, to spy what passengers come that way. The allusion is still to the practice of robbers. As a lion in his den — Which lurks and waits for prey. He doth catch — יחתŠ, jachtop, snatch, or seize upon; the poor — Namely, with violence, and to devour or destroy him; when he draweth him — Or rather, by drawing him, or, after he hath drawn him, as במשׁכו, bemashecho, properly signifies, into his net. He lays snares for him, and when he takes him he tears him in pieces.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv8–10He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages -…
He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages - As robbers do, who hide themselves in the vicinity of villages, that they make a sudden descent upon them in the silence of the night, or that they may seize and rob the inhabitants as they go forth in the morning to attend their flocks to the pastures, or to labor in the fields. The word rendered “villages” means properly an enclosure, as a court before a building; and then a village or hamlet, farm-buildings, or farm hamlets, usually erected around an open space; and it is then used to denote the encampment of nomadic tribes, who usually pitch their tents in a circle so as to form an enclosure, Gen 25:16; Isa 42:11. In the neighborhood of such places - in the thickets, bushes, or ravines, that might be near such encampments or enclosures - robbers would naturally secrete themselves, that they might fall upon them suddenly, or that they might seize anyone who left the village or encampment for ally purpose. So Frazer remarks in his Travels in Chorasan, i. 437: “When the Turkomans design to fall upon a village, they take a position near it in the rear, until in the morning the unsuspecting inhabitants drive out their herds, or leave the villages for some other purpose, and then they suddenly fall upon them.” DeWette, in loc.
In the secret places doth he murder the innocent - From these retreats he suddenly falls upon those who are unsuspicious, and who have done him no wrong. The word “innocent” here does not mean sinless in the absolute sense, but it means that they were innocent so far as the robber was concerned. They had done him no wrong; they had given him no occasion to make war upon them.
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His eyes are privily set - Margin, “hide themselves.” The Hebrew word means to hide, to conceal; to lay up in private; to hoard; to keep back; to hold back, etc. Here it means to conceal, to lurk in ambush; and the idea is that his eyes will secretly watch, or keep a lookout for them; that is, that his eyes, or that he himself will be concealed, that he may observe the goings of those whom he intends to make his prey.
Against the poor - Or, the wretched, the afflicted, the defenseless. The meaning is, that instead of being a helper of the poor and wretched, he is disposed to take every advantage of them, and deprive them of all their rights and comforts.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv8, 10eyes . . . privily--He watches with half-closed eyes,…
eyes . . . privily--He watches with half-closed eyes, appearing not to see.
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. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv8–108. In… lurking places—In ambush.
8. In… lurking places—In ambush.
Villages—Unwalled towns; hence more exposed to depredations.
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Privily set—The word may mean to hide, or to intently watch, like a scout or a spy.
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 Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv8–108. He coucheth in ambush in the villages:
8. He coucheth in ambush in the villages:
In the secret places doth he murder the innocent,
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His eyes watch privily for the helpless.
The unwalled villages would be most exposed to the raids of marauders; and the country-folk, as Micah shews, suffered most from the oppression of the nobles.
Helpless (R.V.) or hapless (R.V. marg.) are good renderings of an obscure word peculiar to this psalm (Psa_10:10; Psa_10:14).
8–11. The wicked man’s crimes. He is described as a brigand, lying in wait to rob; as a lion lurking for its prey; as a hunter snaring his game. His victims are the innocent and defenceless poor.
The reference is probably to the bands of freebooters which, in the absence of a system of police, have always been common in the East. At no time was the country entirely free from them, and in periods of anarchy they would multiply rapidly. See Jdg_11:3; 1Sa_22:2; 2Sa_4:2; Hos_6:9; St Luk_10:30. The emphatic warning of the wise man to his disciple in Pro_1:10-18 (a passage which should be studied in illustration of this Psalm) shews that such a life was common, and had strong attractions for young men.
But in all probability the Psalmist has also in view the powerful nobles who plundered their poorer neighbours, and made their lives intolerable by oppressive exactions. They were no better than the professed brigands, and no doubt did not shrink from actual murder. See the prophets generally, and in particular Micah’s bitter invective, Psa_2:1-11; Psa_3:1-3. Cp. Sir_13:18-19.
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 Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv8–10(8) In lurking places . . .—i.e., in ambush.
(8) In lurking places . . .—i.e., in ambush.
Villages.—Properly, enclosed spaces, but then, like our “town” (ton, an enclosure), for any collection of dwellings; and in Lev_25:31, “an unwalled place”; applied also to a nomadic encampment (Gen_25:16).
The poor.—The Hebrew word, occurring three times in this psalm (Psa_10:10; Psa_10:14), is peculiar to it. The root idea is darkness; hence here, by an easy transition, obscure, humble. Symmachus has “feeble.” But Mr. Burgess suggests that we may in all three places keep the root idea, darkness. Translate, his eyes hide (i.e., wait) for the darkness; and comp. Job_24:15. “The eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight.”
“The Arab robber lurks like a wolf among these sand-heaps, and often springs out suddenly upon the solitary traveller, robs him in a trice, and then plunges again into the wilderness of sandhills and reedy downs, where pursuit is fruitless. Our friends are careful not to allow us to straggle about or linger behind, and yet it seems absurd to fear a surprise here—Khaifa before our eyes, Acre in our rear, and travellers in sight on both sides. Robberies, however, do often occur just where we now are. Strange country; and it has always been so.”—Thomson, The Land and Book.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv8–10He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages. These…
He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages. These "lurking-places" must not be supposed to have been inside the villages, but outside of them They were retired spots at no great distance, where brigands or others might lie in ambush, ready to seize on such of the villagers as might show themselves. In the secret places doth he murder the innocent. (comp. Job_24:14) The usual object would be, not murder, but robbery. Still, there would be cases where it would be convenient to remove a man, as Jezebel removed Naboth; and moreover, in every case of robbery, there is a chance that the victim may resist, and a struggle ensue, in which he may lose his life. His eyes are privily set against the poor; or, his eyes lay ambush for the helpless (Kay). The word translated" poor" (hklhe) is only found in this place and in ver. 10, where the antithesis of "strong ones" seems to imply that the weak and helpless are meant.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon1885 · Public DomainOn vv8–10Ver. 8. Despite the bragging of this base wretch,…
Ver. 8. Despite the bragging of this base wretch, it seems that he is as cowardly as he is cruel.
He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. He acts the part of the highwayman, who springs upon the unsuspecting traveller in some desolate part of the road. There are always bad men lying in wait for the saints. This is a land of robbers and thieves; let us travel well armed, for every bush conceals an enemy. Everywhere there are traps laid for us, and foes thirsting for our blood. There are enemies at our table as well as across the sea. We are never safe, save when the Lord is with us.
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Ver. 8. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages, etc. The Arab robber lurks like a wolf among these sand heaps, and often springs out suddenly upon the solitary traveller, robs him in a trice, and then plunges again into the wilderness of sand hills and reedy downs, where pursuit is fruitless. Our friends are careful not to allow us to straggle about, or lag behind, and yet it seems absurd to fear a surprise here Kaifa before, Acre in the rear, and travellers in sight on both sides. Robberies, however, do often occur, just where we now are. Strange country! and it has always been so. There are a hundred allusions to just such things in the history, the Psalms, and the prophets of Israel. A whole class of imagery is based upon them. Thus, in Ps 10:8-10, "He sits in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: he lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net; he croucheth and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones." And a thousand rascals, the living originals of this picture, are this day crouching and lying in wait all over the country to catch poor helpless travellers. You observe that all these people we meet or pass are armed; nor would they venture to go from Acre to Kaifa without their musket, although the cannon of the castles seem to command every foot of the way. Strange, most strange land! but it tallies wonderfully with its ancient story. W. M. Thompson, D.D., in "The Land and the Book, "1859.
Ver. 8. My companions asked me if I knew the danger I had escaped. "No, "I replied; "What danger?" They then told me that, just after they started, they saw a wild Arab skulking after me, crouching to the ground, with a musket in his hand; and that, as soon as he had reached within what appeared to them musket shot of me, he raised his gun; but, looking wildly around him, as a man will do who is about to perpetrate some desperate act, he caught sight of them and disappeared. Jeremiah knew something of the ways of these Arabs when he wrote (Jer 3:2) "In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; " and the simile is used in Ps 10:9-10, for the Arabs wait and watch for their prey with the greatest eagerness and perseverance. John Gadsby, in "My Wanderings, "1860.
Ver. 8. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. All this strength of metaphor and imagery is intended to mark the assiduity, the cunning, the low artifice, to which the enemies of truth and righteousness will often resort in order to accomplish their corrupt and vicious designs. The extirpation of true religion is their great object; and there is nothing to which they will not stoop in order to effect that object. The great powers which have oppressed the church of Christ, in different ages, have answered to this description. Both heathen and papistical authorities have thus condescended in infamy. They have sat, as it were, in ambush for the poor of Christ's flock; they have adopted every stratagem that infernal skill could invent; they have associated themselves with princes in their palaces, and with beggars on their dunghill; they have resorted to the village, and they have mingled in the gay and populous city; and all for the vain purpose of attempting to blot out a "name which shall endure for ever, and which shall be continued as long as the sun." John Morison.
Ver. 8. Dangers of godly men, or the snares in the way of believers.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v8He waits in ambush
He waits in ambush
The word "he" refers to the wicked man.
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his eyes look for some helpless victim
The eyes represent him. AT: "he looks for some helpless victim" (See: Synecdoche)
He lurks in secret like a lion in the thicket
This speaks of the wicked person as if he were a lion. AT: "He hides while he waits for the weak to walk near him, the same way a lion quietly waits in the bush for the animal it wants to attack" (See: Simile)
lurks
This means to hide or wait with intent to harm or kill.
he lies in wait
"lies down waiting" or "he hides and waits"
He catches the oppressed when he pulls in his net
The writer speaks of the wicked person catching people as if he were a hunter using a net to catch animals. AT: "He catches the oppressed like a hunter that catches an animal in a net and drags it away" (See: Metaphor)
they fall into his strong nets
The writer continues to speak of the wicked person catching people as if he were a hunter, his plans were nets, and the people were animals that fall into his net. AT: "his victims are caught by his plans like animals that fall into a hunter's strong nets" (See: Metaphor)
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8. He will sit in the ensnaring places of…
8. He will sit in the ensnaring places of the villages. Horsley renders the eighth verse thus:
“He sitteth in ambush* in the villages in secret places; He murdereth the innocent; his eyes are ever watching for the helpless.”
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And he has the following note: ”Symmachus and St Jerome certainly read thus ישכ מארב בחצרים, and they both render, ה, as a participle. ‘He sitteth prowling about the farm-houses.’ This I take to be the true reading and the true rendering. The image is that of a beast of prey of the lesser order, a fox or a wolf, lying upon the watch about the farm-yard in the evening.”
*Or, “he sitteth prowling about the farmyard.”
Bishop Mant reads “peering eyes.” Concerning the word, says he, “which I have rendered peering, Parkhurst says that it is applied to winking or half closing the eyes in order to see more distinctly. The Septuagint and Vulgate translations, which mean look at, behold, give the general sense, but not the beautiful image expressed in the Hebrew.”
“Qui sont parmi les bois.” — Fr
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 On vv8, 10 He showeth that the wicked have many means to…
He showeth that the wicked have many means to hide their cruelty, and therefore ought more to be feared.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–10 Psa 10:8 He sitteth in the lurking places of…
Psa 10:8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.
Ver. 8. He sitteth in the lurking places, &c.] A. description of a highway robber, saith Diodati, under which name are meant all violent and fraudulent men, and their actions.
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 On vv8–10 In the lurking places of the villages; not within…
In the lurking places of the villages; not within the villages, which is not a fit place for lurking; but about them, in the ways bordering upon them, or leading to them, as robbers use to do.
In the secret places, that he may avoid the shame and punishment of men; which is the only thing that he fears.
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Are privily set, Heb. are hid. The sense is either,
1. He winketh as men do when they shoot their arrows at a mark. Or rather,
2. He watcheth and looketh out of his lurking-place, to spy what passengers come that way. He alludes still to the practices of robbers.
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 On vv8–10 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages,....…
He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages,.... Which were by the wayside, where thieves and robbers harboured, and out of which they came, and robbed passengers as they came by. The word (f) signifies "palaces" or "courts": and so it is rendered by the Chaldee paraphrase and Syriac version; and so the allusion is not to mean thieves and robbers, but to persons of note and figure. Hence the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, render it, "he sitteth in lurking places with the rich"; and may be fitly applied to the pope and his cardinals. Antichrist sits in the temple of God, and by his emissaries gets into the villages, the particular churches and congregations of saints, where they lie in ambush to do mischief, to corrupt their faith, worship, and manners; and like thieves and robbers enter in to steal, kill, and destroy;
in secret places doth he murder the innocent; the harmless lambs and sheep of Christ; who, though they are not without sin in themselves, yet are innocent with respect to the cause and the things for which they suffer: these are the saints and prophets and martyrs of Jesus, whose blood is shed by antichrist; and the taking away of their lives is reckoned murder with God; and is so styled in the Scriptures, Rev 9:21; though the antichristian party call it doing God good service, and impute it to zeal for the good of holy church; and yet this they choose to do in secret, by private massacres, or by the inquisition; which having condemned men to death, delivers them over to the secular power to execute the sentence on them: just as the Jews delivered Christ to the Roman governor, to shift off the sin and blame from themselves; murder being what no one cares to be known in, or chargeable with;
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his eyes are privily set against the poor: the word rendered "poor", is used nowhere but in this psalm, in which it is used three times, here, and in Psa 10:1; and in the plural number in Psa 10:10. It is translated "poor" both in the Chaldee paraphrase and Septuagint version, and in those that follow them. In the Arabic language it signifies "black" (g), and may design such who are black by reason of persecution and affliction, who go mourning all the day long on account of sin, their own and others; and because of the distresses and calamities of the church and people of God. These the eyes of the wicked watch and observe, and are set against them to do them all the mischief they can; their eyes are full of envy and indignation at them, though it is all in a private and secret way. The allusion is to thieves and robbers, who hide themselves in some secret place, and from thence look out for them that pass by, and narrowly observe whether they are for their purpose, and when it will be proper to come out and seize upon them.
(f) Symmachus in Drusius; "atriorum", Munster; so Hammond, Ainsworth, & Michaelis. (g) "Chalae, valde niger fuit", Golius, col. 646.
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 On vv8, 10 Sitteth - Not within the villages, but in the…
Sitteth - Not within the villages, but in the ways bordering upon them, or leading to them, as robbers use to do. Are set - Hebrew. Are hid. He watches and looks out of his lurking-place. He alludes still to the practices of robbers.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 Verse 8. He sitteth in the lurking places] In…
Verse 8. He sitteth in the lurking places] In this and the following verse there appears to be an allusion to espionage, or setting of spies on a man's conduct; or to the conduct of an assassin or private murderer. He sitteth in lurking places-in secret places; his eyes-spies-are privily set; he lieth in wait secretly: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. He is like a hunter that lays his traps and gins, digs his pits, sets his nets; and when the prey falls into them, he destroys its life.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 Psa 10:8-9. He sitteth in the lurking places of…
Psa 10:8-9. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages — Not within the villages, but in the ways bordering upon them, or leading to them, as robbers used to do. In the secret places — That he may avoid the shame and punishment of men; which is the only thing that he fears. His eyes are privily set — Hebrew, יצפנו, jitzponu, delitescunt, lie hid; skulk, or lurk. He watches, and looks out of his lurking place, to spy what passengers come that way. The allusion is still to the practice of robbers. As a lion in his den — Which lurks and waits for prey. He doth catch — יחתŠ, jachtop, snatch, or seize upon; the poor — Namely, with violence, and to devour or destroy him; when he draweth him — Or rather, by drawing him, or, after he hath drawn him, as במשׁכו, bemashecho, properly signifies, into his net. He lays snares for him, and when he takes him he tears him in pieces.
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 On vv8–10 He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages -…
He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages - As robbers do, who hide themselves in the vicinity of villages, that they make a sudden descent upon them in the silence of the night, or that they may seize and rob the inhabitants as they go forth in the morning to attend their flocks to the pastures, or to labor in the fields. The word rendered “villages” means properly an enclosure, as a court before a building; and then a village or hamlet, farm-buildings, or farm hamlets, usually erected around an open space; and it is then used to denote the encampment of nomadic tribes, who usually pitch their tents in a circle so as to form an enclosure, Gen 25:16; Isa 42:11. In the neighborhood of such places - in the thickets, bushes, or ravines, that might be near such encampments or enclosures - robbers would naturally secrete themselves, that they might fall upon them suddenly, or that they might seize anyone who left the village or encampment for ally purpose. So Frazer remarks in his Travels in Chorasan, i. 437: “When the Turkomans design to fall upon a village, they take a position near it in the rear, until in the morning the unsuspecting inhabitants drive out their herds, or leave the villages for some other purpose, and then they suddenly fall upon them.” DeWette, in loc.
In the secret places doth he murder the innocent - From these retreats he suddenly falls upon those who are unsuspicious, and who have done him no wrong. The word “innocent” here does not mean sinless in the absolute sense, but it means that they were innocent so far as the robber was concerned. They had done him no wrong; they had given him no occasion to make war upon them.
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His eyes are privily set - Margin, “hide themselves.” The Hebrew word means to hide, to conceal; to lay up in private; to hoard; to keep back; to hold back, etc. Here it means to conceal, to lurk in ambush; and the idea is that his eyes will secretly watch, or keep a lookout for them; that is, that his eyes, or that he himself will be concealed, that he may observe the goings of those whom he intends to make his prey.
Against the poor - Or, the wretched, the afflicted, the defenseless. The meaning is, that instead of being a helper of the poor and wretched, he is disposed to take every advantage of them, and deprive them of all their rights and comforts.
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 On vv8, 10 eyes . . . privily--He watches with half-closed eyes,…
eyes . . . privily--He watches with half-closed eyes, appearing not to see.
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 On vv8–10 8. In… lurking places—In ambush.
8. In… lurking places—In ambush.
Villages—Unwalled towns; hence more exposed to depredations.
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Privily set—The word may mean to hide, or to intently watch, like a scout or a spy.
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 On vv8–10 8. He coucheth in ambush in the villages:
8. He coucheth in ambush in the villages:
In the secret places doth he murder the innocent,
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His eyes watch privily for the helpless.
The unwalled villages would be most exposed to the raids of marauders; and the country-folk, as Micah shews, suffered most from the oppression of the nobles.
Helpless (R.V.) or hapless (R.V. marg.) are good renderings of an obscure word peculiar to this psalm (Psa_10:10; Psa_10:14).
8–11. The wicked man’s crimes. He is described as a brigand, lying in wait to rob; as a lion lurking for its prey; as a hunter snaring his game. His victims are the innocent and defenceless poor.
The reference is probably to the bands of freebooters which, in the absence of a system of police, have always been common in the East. At no time was the country entirely free from them, and in periods of anarchy they would multiply rapidly. See Jdg_11:3; 1Sa_22:2; 2Sa_4:2; Hos_6:9; St Luk_10:30. The emphatic warning of the wise man to his disciple in Pro_1:10-18 (a passage which should be studied in illustration of this Psalm) shews that such a life was common, and had strong attractions for young men.
But in all probability the Psalmist has also in view the powerful nobles who plundered their poorer neighbours, and made their lives intolerable by oppressive exactions. They were no better than the professed brigands, and no doubt did not shrink from actual murder. See the prophets generally, and in particular Micah’s bitter invective, Psa_2:1-11; Psa_3:1-3. Cp. Sir_13:18-19.
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 On vv8–10 (8) In lurking places . . .—i.e., in ambush.
(8) In lurking places . . .—i.e., in ambush.
Villages.—Properly, enclosed spaces, but then, like our “town” (ton, an enclosure), for any collection of dwellings; and in Lev_25:31, “an unwalled place”; applied also to a nomadic encampment (Gen_25:16).
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Privily set.—Literally, hid: i.e., watched secretly.
The poor.—The Hebrew word, occurring three times in this psalm (Psa_10:10; Psa_10:14), is peculiar to it. The root idea is darkness; hence here, by an easy transition, obscure, humble. Symmachus has “feeble.” But Mr. Burgess suggests that we may in all three places keep the root idea, darkness. Translate, his eyes hide (i.e., wait) for the darkness; and comp. Job_24:15. “The eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight.”
“The Arab robber lurks like a wolf among these sand-heaps, and often springs out suddenly upon the solitary traveller, robs him in a trice, and then plunges again into the wilderness of sandhills and reedy downs, where pursuit is fruitless. Our friends are careful not to allow us to straggle about or linger behind, and yet it seems absurd to fear a surprise here—Khaifa before our eyes, Acre in our rear, and travellers in sight on both sides. Robberies, however, do often occur just where we now are. Strange country; and it has always been so.”—Thomson, The Land and Book.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv8–10 He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages. These…
He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages. These "lurking-places" must not be supposed to have been inside the villages, but outside of them They were retired spots at no great distance, where brigands or others might lie in ambush, ready to seize on such of the villagers as might show themselves. In the secret places doth he murder the innocent. (comp. Job_24:14) The usual object would be, not murder, but robbery. Still, there would be cases where it would be convenient to remove a man, as Jezebel removed Naboth; and moreover, in every case of robbery, there is a chance that the victim may resist, and a struggle ensue, in which he may lose his life. His eyes are privily set against the poor; or, his eyes lay ambush for the helpless (Kay). The word translated" poor" (hklhe) is only found in this place and in ver. 10, where the antithesis of "strong ones" seems to imply that the weak and helpless are meant.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv8–10 Ver. 8. Despite the bragging of this base wretch,…
Ver. 8. Despite the bragging of this base wretch, it seems that he is as cowardly as he is cruel.
He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. He acts the part of the highwayman, who springs upon the unsuspecting traveller in some desolate part of the road. There are always bad men lying in wait for the saints. This is a land of robbers and thieves; let us travel well armed, for every bush conceals an enemy. Everywhere there are traps laid for us, and foes thirsting for our blood. There are enemies at our table as well as across the sea. We are never safe, save when the Lord is with us.
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Ver. 8. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages, etc. The Arab robber lurks like a wolf among these sand heaps, and often springs out suddenly upon the solitary traveller, robs him in a trice, and then plunges again into the wilderness of sand hills and reedy downs, where pursuit is fruitless. Our friends are careful not to allow us to straggle about, or lag behind, and yet it seems absurd to fear a surprise here Kaifa before, Acre in the rear, and travellers in sight on both sides. Robberies, however, do often occur, just where we now are. Strange country! and it has always been so. There are a hundred allusions to just such things in the history, the Psalms, and the prophets of Israel. A whole class of imagery is based upon them. Thus, in Ps 10:8-10, "He sits in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: he lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net; he croucheth and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones." And a thousand rascals, the living originals of this picture, are this day crouching and lying in wait all over the country to catch poor helpless travellers. You observe that all these people we meet or pass are armed; nor would they venture to go from Acre to Kaifa without their musket, although the cannon of the castles seem to command every foot of the way. Strange, most strange land! but it tallies wonderfully with its ancient story. W. M. Thompson, D.D., in "The Land and the Book, "1859.
Ver. 8. My companions asked me if I knew the danger I had escaped. "No, "I replied; "What danger?" They then told me that, just after they started, they saw a wild Arab skulking after me, crouching to the ground, with a musket in his hand; and that, as soon as he had reached within what appeared to them musket shot of me, he raised his gun; but, looking wildly around him, as a man will do who is about to perpetrate some desperate act, he caught sight of them and disappeared. Jeremiah knew something of the ways of these Arabs when he wrote (Jer 3:2) "In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; " and the simile is used in Ps 10:9-10, for the Arabs wait and watch for their prey with the greatest eagerness and perseverance. John Gadsby, in "My Wanderings, "1860.
Ver. 8. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. All this strength of metaphor and imagery is intended to mark the assiduity, the cunning, the low artifice, to which the enemies of truth and righteousness will often resort in order to accomplish their corrupt and vicious designs. The extirpation of true religion is their great object; and there is nothing to which they will not stoop in order to effect that object. The great powers which have oppressed the church of Christ, in different ages, have answered to this description. Both heathen and papistical authorities have thus condescended in infamy. They have sat, as it were, in ambush for the poor of Christ's flock; they have adopted every stratagem that infernal skill could invent; they have associated themselves with princes in their palaces, and with beggars on their dunghill; they have resorted to the village, and they have mingled in the gay and populous city; and all for the vain purpose of attempting to blot out a "name which shall endure for ever, and which shall be continued as long as the sun." John Morison.
Ver. 8. Dangers of godly men, or the snares in the way of believers.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v8 He waits in ambush
He waits in ambush
The word "he" refers to the wicked man.
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his eyes look for some helpless victim
The eyes represent him. AT: "he looks for some helpless victim" (See: Synecdoche)
He lurks in secret like a lion in the thicket
This speaks of the wicked person as if he were a lion. AT: "He hides while he waits for the weak to walk near him, the same way a lion quietly waits in the bush for the animal it wants to attack" (See: Simile)
lurks
This means to hide or wait with intent to harm or kill.
he lies in wait
"lies down waiting" or "he hides and waits"
He catches the oppressed when he pulls in his net
The writer speaks of the wicked person catching people as if he were a hunter using a net to catch animals. AT: "He catches the oppressed like a hunter that catches an animal in a net and drags it away" (See: Metaphor)
they fall into his strong nets
The writer continues to speak of the wicked person catching people as if he were a hunter, his plans were nets, and the people were animals that fall into his net. AT: "his victims are caught by his plans like animals that fall into a hunter's strong nets" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
innocent
lions
oppress
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 On v8 10:8 The wicked rely on outright violence (11:5; 37:32)…
10:8 The wicked rely on outright violence (11:5; 37:32) and deception (Prov 12:6; 23:27-28).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.