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.
Parallel Translations
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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.
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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.
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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.
Cross-references (26)
Passages linked to Psalms 10:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 17:12 He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
- Psalms 59:3 For, behold, they lie in wait for my soul. The mighty gather themselves together against me, not for my disobedience, nor for my sin, Yahweh.
- Micah 7:2 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 brother with a net.
- Psalms 35:10 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 from him who robs him?”
- Job 5:15-16 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 “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 from those who malign him.”
- Psalms 140:5 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 14:31 He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him.
- Proverbs 22:16 Whoever oppresses the poor for his own increase and whoever gives to the rich, both come to poverty.
- Proverbs 28:15 As a roaring lion or a charging bear, so is a wicked ruler over helpless people.
- Isaiah 3:15 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 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 He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
- Ezekiel 22:29 The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery. Yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.
- Amos 2:6-7 Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals; They trample on the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and deny justice to the oppressed; and a man and his father use the same maiden, to profane my holy name;
- Amos 3:4 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 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 them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many your offenses, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn away the needy in the courts.
- Nahum 2:11-12 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 made them afraid? The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with the kill, and his dens with prey.
- Habakkuk 3:14 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 in secret.
- Zechariah 11:3 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 is ruined.
- John 10:12 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 the sheep, and scatters them.
- Psalms 37:14 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 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 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 was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. “ ‘Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her cubs, and made him a young lion. He went up and down among the lions. He became a young lion. He learned to catch the prey. He devoured men.
- Habakkuk 1:15 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.
- Acts 23:21 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 drink until they have killed him. Now they are ready, looking for the promise from you.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain In the next verse, he sets forth their cruelty…
In the next verse, he sets forth their cruelty in a light still more aggravated, by another comparison, saying, that they thirst for their prey like lions in their dens Now, it is a step higher in wickedness to equal in cruelty wild beasts than to make havoc after the manner of robbers. It is worthy of remark, that he always joins deceits and snares with violence, in order the better to show how miserable the children of God would be, unless they were succoured by help from heaven. There is also added another similitude, which expresses more clearly how craft in catching victims is mingled with cruelty. They catch them, says he but it is by drawing them into their net By these words he means, that they not only rush upon them with open force and violence, but that, at the same time also, they spread their nets in order to deceive.
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.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 10:9 He lieth in wait secretly as a…
Psa 10:9 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.
Ver. 9. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den] See Job 38:40, {See Trapp on "Job 38:40"}
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When he draweth him into his net] That is, into his bonds, debts, mortgages, saith Chrysostom. When a poor man is once gotten into these nets, wicked oppressors do not only rob but ravish them; coining their money upon poor men’s skins, and wringing the sponges of poor people into their own purses. David compareth them to cannibals, Psa 14:4, to greedy lions here. Another saith they are like the fish polypus, that lying in wait for other fishes upon the rock, assimilateth to the rock and taketh them in his net, which he hath naturally behind his head, and can spread at his pleasure, before they find themselves in danger (Sir Richard Berkley’s Summum Bonum).
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 As a lion in his den, where he lurks…
As a lion in his den, where he lurks and waits for prey.
He doth catch, or snatch, or seize upon, to wit, with violence, and to devour or destroy him.
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When he draweth him; or, by drawing him; or, after he hath drawn him. He layeth snares for him, and when he takes him, tears him in pieces.
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 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion,.... The…
He lieth in wait secretly as a lion,.... The first beast in Rev 13:2; is said to have a mouth like a lion, and the second beast in Psa 10:11; spake like a dragon; and both design one and the same, antichrist, in his twofold capacity, civil and ecclesiastical; this metaphor of the lion lying in wait secretly for his prey denotes the insidious methods used by antichrist to destroy the faithful witnesses of Christ; who lies like a lion
in his den, in the temple of God, now become a den of thieves;
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he lieth in wait to catch the poor: to snatch and carry them away captive as his prey; see Rev 13:10;
he doth catch the poor when he draweth him into his net; this metaphor is taken from fowlers, who spread nets, into which they allure and draw the birds and catch them. The allurements, snares, and nets, which antichrist lays to catch the poor saints and people of God in, are the riches and honours of this world, great pretensions to holiness, devotion; and religion, and many lying signs and wonders.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He lieth in wait secretly - Margin, in the…
He lieth in wait secretly - Margin, in the secret places. See the note at Psa 10:8. The object here is merely to illustrate the thought in the previous verse, by an allusion to a lion and a hunter.
As a lion in his den - As a lion crouches down in his den, ready to spring upon his prey. That is, the lion is concealed, but is on the look out, and when his prey passes near his den, he suddenly springs upon it and secures it. So it is with the wicked man. He carefully lays his plans. He conceals his purposes. He is himself hidden, or his plans are all hidden. Suddenly he springs upon his victim, who is taken by surprise and has no power of defense or escape. The purpose here is not so much to describe the wicked man as a literal robber, as to compare the conduct of the wicked with that of a robber - one who, like a lion or a hunter, lies concealed until his victim is seen. This will describe the conduct of a large class of people - men who secretly lay plans of seduction, villany, and fraud, and who spring suddenly upon their victims when there is no hope of escape.
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He lieth in wait to catch the poor - The helpless and defenseless.
He doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net - As a hunter does the wild beast. Here the same thought is presented under a new image - that of a hunter. He lays his snare, gin, or pit-fall, and when the animal is allured into it, he springs the net suddenly on him, or the animal sinks into the pit, and is secured. See the note at Psa 7:15; the note at Psa 9:15.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9. Secretly as a lion—The figure is now borrowed…
9. Secretly as a lion—The figure is now borrowed from the habits of beasts of prey, the most perfect for secrecy, wariness, deceit, and cruelty.
In his den—Rather, in his covert, or covered place, where he watches for prey.
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Draweth him into his net—The figure changes to the method of the hunter in catching wild animals.
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 9. Render:
9. Render:
He lieth in ambush in the secret place as a lion in his lair;
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He lieth in ambush to catch the poor:
He catcheth the poor, dragging him off with his net.
The wicked man is now described as a lion, lurking in his lair in the forest till his prey comes near. In the third clause the figure is changed for that of a hunter: probably the victim is dragged off to be sold for a slave.
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 (9) Lieth in wait.—A confusion of metaphor. The wicked…
(9) Lieth in wait.—A confusion of metaphor. The wicked is first, the lion watching for his prey, and then the hunter snaring animals. “Poor,” here—better, afflicted (see Psa_9:12). Translate, in his hiding-place he lurks, as a lion in his lair, lurks to seize a sufferer, seizes a sufferer, drawing him into his net.
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 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in…
He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den; or, he lurks in the covert as a lion in his lair (Kay) a very striking image! He lieth in wait (or, lurks) to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net; rather, by drawing him into his net. The mode of capture is intended.
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 Ver. 9. The picture becomes blacker, for here is…
Ver. 9. The picture becomes blacker, for here is the cunning of the lion, and of the huntsman, as well as the stealthiness of the robber. Surely there are some men who come up to the very letter of this description. With watching, perversion, slander, whispering, and false swearing, they ruin the character of the righteous, and murder the innocent; or, with legal quibbles, mortgages, bonds, writs, and the like, they catch the poor, and draw them into a net. Chrysostom was peculiarly severe upon this last phase of cruelty, but assuredly not more so than was richly merited. Take care, brethren, for there are other traps besides these. Hungry lions are crouching in every den, and fowlers spread their nets in every field. Quarles well pictures our danger in those memorable lines,
"The close pursuers busy hands do plant Snares in thy substance; snares attend thy wants;
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Snares in thy credit; snares in thy disgrace; Snares in thy high estate; snares in thy base; Snares tuck thy bed; and snares surround thy board; Snares watch thy thoughts; and snares attack thy word; "
"Snares in thy quiet; snares in thy commotion; Snares in thy diet; snares in thy devotion; Snares lurk in thy resolves; snares in thy doubt; Snares lie within thy heart; and snares without; Snares are above thy head, and snares beneath; Snares in thy sickness; snares are in thy death."
"O Lord! keep thy servants, and defend us from all our enemies!"
Ver. 9. He doth catch the poor. The poor man is the beast they hunt, who must rise early, rest late, eat the bread of sorrow, sit with many a hungry meal, perhaps his children crying for food, while all the fruit of his pains is served into Nimrod's table. Complain of this while you will, yet, as the orator said of Verres, pecuniosus nescit damnari. Indeed, a money man may not be damnified, but he may be damned. For this is a crying sin, and the wakened ears of the Lord will hear it, neither shall his provoked hands forbear it. Si tacuerint pauperes loquentur lapides. If the poor should hold their peace, the very stones would speak. The fines, rackings, enclosures, oppressions, vexations, will cry to God for vengeance. "The stone will cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it." Hab 2:11. You see the beasts they hunt. Not foxes, not wolves, nor boars, bulls, nor tigers. It is a certain observation, no beast hunts its own kind to devour it. Now, if these should prosecute wolves, foxes, &c., they should then hunt their own kind; for they are these themselves, or rather worse than these, because here homo homini lupus. But though they are men they hunt, and by nature of the same kind, they are not so by quality, for they are lambs they persecute. In them there is blood, and flesh, and fleece to be had; and therefore on these do they gorge themselves. In them there is weak armour of defence against their cruelties; therefore over these they may domineer. I will speak it boldly: there is not a mighty Nimrod in this land that dares hunt his equal; but over his inferior lamb he insults like a young Nero. Let him be graced by high ones, and he must not be saluted under twelve score off. In the country he proves a termagant; his very scowl is a prodigy, and breeds an earthquake. He would be a Caesar, and tax all. It is well if he prove not a cannibal! Only Macro salutes Sejanus so long as he is in Tiberius's favour; cast him from that pinnacle, and the dog is ready to devour him. Thomas Adams.
Ver. 9. He draweth him into his net. "They hunt with a net." Mic 7:2. They have their politic gins to catch men; gaudy wares and dark shops (and would you have them love the light that live by darkness, as many shopkeepers?) draw and tole customers in, where the crafty leeches can soon feel their pulses: if they must buy they shall pay for their necessity. And though they plead, We compel none to buy our ware, caveat emptor; yet with fine voluble phrases, damnable protestations, they will cast a mist of error before an eye of simple truth, and with cunning devices hunt them in. So some among us have feathered their nests, not by open violence, but politic circumvention. They have sought the golden fleece, not by Jason's merit, but by Medea's subtlety, by Medea's sorcery. If I should intend to discover these hunter's plots, and to deal punctually with them, I should afford you more matter than you would afford me time. But I limit myself and answer all their plans with Augustine. Their tricks may hold in jure fori, but not in jure poli in the common pleas of earth, not before the king's bench in heaven. Thomas Adams.
Ver. 9. Oppression turns princes into roaring lions, and judges into ravening wolves. It is an unnatural sin, against the light of nature. No creatures do oppress them of their own kind. Look upon the birds of prey, as upon eagles, vultures, hawks, and you shall never find them preying upon their own kind. Look upon the beasts of the forest, as upon the lion, the tiger, the wolf, the bear, and you shall ever find them favourable to their own kind; and yet men unnaturally prey upon one another, like the fish in the sea, the great swallowing up the small. Thomas Brooks.
Ver. 9. The ferocity, craftiness, strength, and activity of Satan.
Ver. 9. (last clause). The Satanic fisherman, his art, diligence, success, etc.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.