Isaiah 42:16(v14)I will bring the blind by a way that they don’t know. I will lead them in paths that they don’t know. I will make darkness light before…
Psalms 116:16(v14)Yahweh, truly I am your servant. I am your servant, the son of your servant girl. You have freed me from my chains.
Psalms 107:28(v13)Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distress.
Ephesians 5:8(v14)For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
Psalms 107:6(v13)Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses,
Show all 91 cross-references
Zechariah 9:11-12(v14)As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water. Turn to the…
1 Peter 2:9(v14)But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of…
Judges 4:3(v13)The children of Israel cried to Yahweh, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and he mightily oppressed the children of Israel for…
Judges 6:6-10(v13)Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh. When the children of Israel cried to Yahweh…
2 Chronicles 33:12-13(v13)When he was in distress, he begged Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him; and he was…
Psalms 18:6(v13)In my distress I called on Yahweh, and cried to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry before him came into his ears.
Psalms 107:10(v14)Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,
Luke 1:79(v10)to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Exodus 3:7-8(v13)Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I…
Psalms 107:19(v13)Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, he saves them out of their distresses.
Psalms 116:3-6(v13)The cords of death surrounded me, the pains of Sheol got a hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called on Yahweh’s name: “Yahweh,…
Isaiah 61:1(v14)The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken…
Jeremiah 52:31-34(v14)In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty-fifth day of the month,…
Judges 10:10-18(v13)The children of Israel cried to Yahweh, saying, “We have sinned against you, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the…
2 Chronicles 33:18-19(v13)Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of Yahweh, the God…
Psalms 22:11(v12)Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is no one to help.
Psalms 106:43(v11)He rescued them many times, but they were rebellious in their counsel, and were brought low in their iniquity.
Jeremiah 31:18-20(v13)“I have surely heard Ephraim grieving thus, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf. Turn me, and I will be…
Micah 7:8(v10)Don’t rejoice against me, my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, Yahweh will be a light to me.
Acts 5:19(v14)But an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors by night, and brought them out and said,
Psalms 68:6(vv11, 14)God sets the lonely in families. He brings out the prisoners with singing, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.
Job 36:8(v14)If they are bound in fetters, and are taken in the cords of afflictions,
Job 42:10-12(v14)Yahweh turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends. Yahweh gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came there to him…
Psalms 78:40(v11)How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert!
Psalms 102:20(v14)to hear the groans of the prisoner; to free those who are condemned to death;
Psalms 105:19-20(v14)until the time that his word happened, and Yahweh’s word proved him true. The king sent and freed him, even the ruler of peoples, and let…
Proverbs 1:25(v11)but you have ignored all my counsel, and wanted none of my reproof;
Luke 13:16(v14)Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”
Acts 5:25(v14)One came and told them, “Behold, the men whom you put in prison are in the temple, standing and teaching the people.”
Romans 1:28(v11)Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
Job 3:5(vv10, 14)Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes black the day terrify it.
Exodus 5:18-19(v12)Go therefore now, and work; for no straw shall be given to you; yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!” The officers of the…
1 Samuel 2:5-8(v11)Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread. Those who were hungry are satisfied. Yes, the barren has borne seven. She who has…
2 Chronicles 33:10(v11)Yahweh spoke to Manasseh, and to his people; but they didn’t listen.
2 Chronicles 36:16(v11)but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until Yahweh’s wrath arose against his people,…
Job 10:21-22(v14)before I go where I will not return from, to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death; the land dark as midnight, of the shadow of…
Job 33:30(v14)to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of the living.
Psalms 73:24(v11)You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
Psalms 146:7(v14)who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh frees the prisoners.
Proverbs 1:30-31(v11)They wanted none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof. Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with…
Isaiah 42:7(v10)to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.
Isaiah 49:9(v14)saying to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’; to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’ “They shall feed along the paths, and their…
Isaiah 60:1-3(v14)“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and Yahweh’s glory has risen on you. For, behold, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness…
Jeremiah 44:16(v11)“As for the word that you have spoken to us in Yahweh’s name, we will not listen to you.
Matthew 4:16(v10)the people who sat in darkness saw a great light, to those who sat in the region and shadow of death, to them light has dawned.”
Luke 7:30(v11)But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God, not being baptized by him themselves.
Acts 12:7-10(v14)And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side, and woke him up, saying, “Stand…
Acts 16:26-40(v14)Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and…
Acts 20:27(v11)for I didn’t shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
Romans 6:20-21(v10)For when you were servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you…
Exodus 2:23(v12)In the course of those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and…
Exodus 2:23-24(v10)In the course of those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and…
Job 15:30(v14)He will not depart out of darkness. The flame will dry up his branches. He will go away by the breath of God’s mouth.
Job 19:8(v14)He has walled up my way so that I can’t pass, and has set darkness in my paths.
Job 36:8-9(v10)If they are bound in fetters, and are taken in the cords of afflictions, then he shows them their work, and their transgressions, that they…
Psalms 105:18(v10)They bruised his feet with shackles. His neck was locked in irons,
Psalms 113:7-9(v11)He raises up the poor out of the dust. Lifts up the needy from the ash heap, that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his…
Matthew 22:13(v10)Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. That is where the…
Luke 15:14-17(v12)When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. He went and joined himself to one of…
Luke 16:14(v11)The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him.
2 Chronicles 25:15-16(v11)Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against Amaziah, and he sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought after the gods of the…
Psalms 68:18(v11)You have ascended on high. You have led away captives. You have received gifts among people, yes, among the rebellious also, that Yah God…
Psalms 119:24(v11)Indeed your statutes are my delight, and my counselors.
Isaiah 5:19(v11)who say, “Let him make haste, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come,…
Isaiah 51:23(v12)I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, ‘Bow down, that we may walk over you;’ and you have laid…
Isaiah 63:10-11(v11)But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Therefore he turned and became their enemy, and he himself fought against them. Then he…
Lamentations 3:6-7(v10)He has made me dwell in dark places, as those who have been long dead. He has walled me about, so that I can’t go out. He has made my chain…
Lamentations 3:39-42(v11)Why does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh. Let’s lift…
Judges 10:16-18(v12)They put away the foreign gods from among them and served Yahweh; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. Then the children of…
Judges 16:30(v12)Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people…
2 Kings 6:26-27(v12)As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” He said, “If Yahweh doesn’t help…
2 Kings 6:33(v12)While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, “Behold, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I…
2 Chronicles 33:11(v10)Therefore Yahweh brought on them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, bound him with fetters, and…
Nehemiah 9:37(v12)It yields much increase to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. Also they have power over our bodies and over our…
Job 9:13(v12)“God will not withdraw his anger. The helpers of Rahab stoop under him.
Isaiah 9:2(v10)The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. The light has shined on those who lived in the land of the shadow of death.
Isaiah 51:19-20(v12)These two things have happened to you— who will grieve with you?— desolation and destruction, and famine and the sword. How can I comfort…
Isaiah 52:5(v12)“Now therefore, what do I do here,” says Yahweh, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them mock,” says…
Isaiah 63:5(v12)I looked, and there was no one to help; and I wondered that there was no one to uphold. Therefore my own arm brought salvation to me. My…
Lamentations 5:5-6(v12)Our pursuers are on our necks. We are weary, and have no rest. We have given our hands to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be…
Judges 16:21(v12)The Philistines laid hold on him and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of bronze; and he…
Job 15:22(v14)He doesn’t believe that he will return out of darkness. He is waited for by the sword.
Psalms 18:40-41(v12)You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that I might cut off those who hate me. They cried, but there was no one to save;…
Psalms 106:7(v11)Our fathers didn’t understand your wonders in Egypt. They didn’t remember the multitude of your loving kindnesses, but were rebellious at…
Psalms 142:4(v12)Look on my right, and see; for there is no one who is concerned for me. Refuge has fled from me. No one cares for my soul.
Lamentations 5:15-17(v11)The joy of our heart has ceased. Our dance is turned into mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! For…
91 distinct cross-references across this passage (93 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (19 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv10–1110. They who dwell in darkness The Spirit of…
10. They who dwell in darkness The Spirit of God makes mention here of another species of danger in which God manifestly discovers his power and grace in the protecting and delivering of men. The world, as I said, calls these vicissitudes the sport of fortune; and hardly one among a hundred can be found who ascribes them to the superintending providence of God. It is a very different kind of practical wisdom which God expects at our hands; namely, that we ought to meditate on his judgments in the time of adversity, and on his goodness in delivering us from it. For surely it is not by mere chance that a person falls into the hands of enemies or robbers; neither is it by chance that he is rescued from them. But this is what we must constantly keep in view, that all afflictions are God’s rod, and that therefore there is no remedy for them elsewhere than in his grace. If a person fall into the hands of robbers or pirates, and be not instantly murdered, but, giving up all hope of life, expects death every moment; surely the deliverance of such a one is a striking proof of the grace of God, which shines the more illustriously in proportion to the fewness of the number who make their escape. Thus, then, should a great number perish, this circumstance ought by no means to diminish the praises of God. On this account the prophet charges all those with ingratitude, who, after they have been wonderfully preserved, very soon lose sight of the deliverance thus vouchsafed to them. And, to strengthen the charge, he brings forward, as a testimony against them, their sighs and cries. For when they are in straits, they confess in good earnest that God is their deliverer; how happens it, then, that this confession disappears when they are enjoying peace and quietness?
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 vv11, 13Then the true way to obey God, is to…
Then the true way to obey God, is to follow his express commandment: also hereby all are exhorted to descend into themselves, forasmuch as none are punished but for their sins.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv10–14Psa 107:10 Such as sit in darkness and in…
Psa 107:10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, [being] bound in affliction and iron;
Ver. 10. Such as sit in darkness, &c.] Here come in the second sort of God’s redeemed or rescued ones, viz. captives and prisoners, whose dark and doleful condition is in this verse described.
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And in the shadow of death] In dark caves and horrid prisons, where there is Luctus ubique payor, et plurima morris imago. Such was Joseph’s first prison, Jeremiah’s miry dungeon, Lollards’ tower, the bishop of London’s coalhouse, &c.
Being bound in affliction and iron] Or, in poverty and iron, as Manasseh was. Many are the miseries that poor prisoners undergo. Good Savonarola had the experience of it, and Zegedine, and the martyrs, and various of God’s dear servants in the recent wars here. A certain pious prince, discoursing about the dangers that were to be then expected for the profession of religion, said, Nihil so magis metuere quam diuturnos carceres, that he feared nothing so much as perpetual imprisonment.
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 vv10–12In darkness and in the shadow of death; in…
In darkness and in the shadow of death; in a disconsolate and forlorn condition, in dark prisons or dungeons.
In affliction and iron; with afflicting or grievous irons. Or, in the cords of affliction, as they are called, Job 36:8, and particularly in iron fetters.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v10We are to take notice of the goodness of…
We are to take notice of the goodness of God towards prisoners and captives. Observe, 1. A description of this affliction. Prisoners are said to sit in darkness (Psa 107:10), in dark dungeons, close prisons, which intimates that they are desolate and disconsolate; they sit in the shadow of death, which intimates not only great distress and trouble, but great danger. Prisoners are many times appointed to die; they sit despairing to get out, but resolving to make the best of it. They are bound in affliction, and many times in iron, as Joseph. Thus sore a calamity is imprisonment, which should make us prize liberty, and be thankful for it. 2. The cause of this affliction, Psa 107:11. It is because they rebelled against the words of God. Wilful sin is rebellion against the words of God; it is a contradiction to his truths and a violation of his laws. They contemned the counsel of the Most High, and thought they neither needed it nor could be the better for it; and those that will not be counselled cannot be helped. Those that despise prophesying, that regard not the admonitions of their own consciences nor the just reproofs of their friends, contemn the counsel of the Most High, and for this they are bound in affliction, both to punish them for and to reclaim them from their rebellions. 3. The design of this affliction, and that is to bring down their heart (Psa 107:12), to humble them for sin, to make them low in their own eyes, to cast down every high, proud, aspiring thought. Afflicting providences must be improved as humbling providences; and we not only lose the benefit of them, but thwart God's designs and walk contrary to him in them if our hearts be unhumbled and unbroken, as high and hard as ever under them. Is the estate brought down with labour, the honour sunk? Have those that exalted themselves fallen down, and is there none to help them? Let this bring down the spirit to confess sin, to accept the punishment of it, and humbly to sue for mercy and grace. 4. The duty of this afflicted state, and that is to pray (Psa 107:13): Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, though before perhaps they had neglected him. Prisoners have time to pray, who, when they were at liberty, could not find time; they see they have need of God's help, though formerly they thought they could do well enough without him. Sense will make men cry when they are in trouble, but grace will direct them to cry unto the Lord, from whom the affliction comes and who alone can remove it. 5. Their deliverance out of the affliction: They cried unto the Lord, and he saved them, Psa 107:13. He brought them out of darkness into light, welcome light, and then doubly sweet and pleasant, brought them out of the shadow of death to the comforts of life, and their liberty was to them life from the dead, Psa 107:14. Were they fettered? He broke their bands asunder. Were they imprisoned in strong castles? He broke the gates of brass and the bars of iron wherewith those gates were made fast; he did not put back, but cut in sunder. Note, When God will work deliverance the greatest difficulties that lie in the way shall be made nothing of. Gates of brass and bars of iron, as they cannot keep him out from him people (he was with Joseph in the prison), so they cannot keep them in when the time, the set-time, for their enlargement, comes. 6. The return that is required from those whose bands God has loosed (Psa 107:15): Let them praise the Lord for his goodness, and take occasion from their own experience of it, and share in it, to bless him for that goodness which the earth is full of, the world and those that dwell therein.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv10–14Therefore he brought down their heart with labour,.... Humbled…
Therefore he brought down their heart with labour,.... Humbled them under his mighty hand; brought down their haughty spirits and proud stomachs by one afflictive providence or another; by which the Lord humbles men, as he did the Israelites in the wilderness, and hides pride from them: or with trouble of mind, under a conviction of sin; when pride, which is the cause of rebellion against God, and of contempt of his counsel, is brought down, and the haughtiness of man laid low; and when men, humbled under a sense of sin, are made willing to submit to Christ and his righteousness, to God's way of saving sinners by him, to the law of God, and to the Gospel of Christ.
They fell down; they threw themselves prostrate at his feet for mercy; their heart and strength failed them, as the word signifies, and is used in Psa 31:10, terrified with a sense of divine wrath, they could not stand before the Lord, nor brave it out against him.
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And there was none to help; they could not help themselves, nor was there any creature that could. There is salvation in no other than in Christ; when he saw there was none to help him in that work, his own arm brought salvation to him; and when sinners see there is help in no other, they apply to him, as follows.
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 vv10, 12Darkness - In dark prisons or dungeons.
Darkness - In dark prisons or dungeons.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv10–14Verse 10. Such as sit in darkness] Here begins…
Verse 10. Such as sit in darkness] Here begins the SECOND similitude, which he uses to illustrate the state of the captives in Babylon, viz., that of a prisoner in a dreary dungeon.
1. They sit in or inhabit darkness. They have no light, no peace, no prosperity.
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2. "In the shadow of death." The place where death reigns, over which he has projected his shadow; those against whom the sentence of death has been pronounced.
3. They are bound in this darkness, have no liberty to revisit the light, and cannot escape from their executioners.
4. They are afflicted, not only by want and privation in general, but they are tortured in the prison, עני oni, afflicted, humbled, distressed.
5. Their fetters are such as they cannot break; they are iron. The reason of their being in this wretched state is given.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn v10Psa 107:10-12. Such as sit in darkness, &c. —…
Psa 107:10-12. Such as sit in darkness, &c. — In a disconsolate and forlorn condition, in dark prisons or dungeons; bound in affliction and iron — In afflicting or grievous irons: or, in the cords of affliction, as the expression is Job 36:8, and particularly in iron fetters. Because they rebelled, &c. — As a just punishment for the crimes they had rebelliously committed against the express commands of God, or the plain dictates and frequent checks of their own consciences; which were the voice of the Most High, giving them wholesome counsel, though they contemned and despised it: therefore he brought down their heart — The pride, and rebellion, and obstinacy of their hearts; with labour — Hebrew, בעמל, begnamal, with pain, or trouble. They fell down and there was none to help — They fell into their enemies’ hands, and into hopeless and remediless miseries. Then they cried unto the Lord, &c. — Yet, upon making their requests to the Lord, and earnestly beseeching him to take pity on their wretched condition, he was pleased mercifully to hear their prayers, and save them out of their distresses. “In this second piece of divine scenery, we behold a people groaning under all the miseries of captivity, deprived of light and liberty, chained down in horrid dungeons, and there expecting the day of execution. These calamities they are represented as having brought upon themselves, by their rebellion against God, who takes this method of humbling them. It succeeds, and brings them upon their knees to Him who alone is able to deliver them. Moved by their cries, he exerts his power on their behalf, and frees them from the house of bondage. To a state of corporal servitude, the Israelites, for their transgressions, were frequently reduced, and many times experienced, upon their repentance, the goodness of Jehovah in rescuing them from it. But the grand and universal captivity is that of sin and death; the grand and universal deliverance, for which all the redeemed of the Lord ought to praise his mercy, is that by Jesus Christ.” When this deliverance is experienced, although but in part; when the sinner, who has cried earnestly to the Lord in his trouble on account of sin, is brought out of the prison of guilt, condemnation, and wrath, and has received the Spirit of life from Christ Jesus, making him free from the law, or commanding, constraining power, of sin and death; “his chains, like those of St. Peter, fall off at the word of his deliverer; he is saved out of his distress; he is brought out of darkness and the shadow of death, into the glorious light and liberty of the sons of God. The joy consequent upon such a deliverance will be exceeded only by that which shall take place in the hearts, and be expressed by the voices of the redeemed, on the day when Christ shall accomplish the redemption of their bodies also, as he hath already effected that of his own, from the power of the grave; when he shall dash in pieces the brazen gates and adamantine bars of that prison- house; put an end for ever to the bondage of corruption, and lead captivity captive into the highest heavens.” — Horne.
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 vv10–14Such as sit in darkness - The reference in…
Such as sit in darkness - The reference in these verses Psa 107:10-14 is evidently to the children of Israel, when in Babylon; and the design is, to show the goodness of God to them in their trouble, and the occasion which they had for praising him on that account. To “sit in darkness” is significant of great ignorance (compare the notes at Luk 1:79; notes at Isa 9:2); or of affliction and trouble, as darkness is an emblem of calamity.
And in the shadow of death - A dark, gloomy, chilly shade such as “Death” would cast if he stood between us and the light. See the notes at Job 3:5; compare Job 10:21; Psa 23:4; Psa 44:19; Isa 9:2. The reference is to the sad and gloomy residence of the Hebrews in the land of captivity.
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Being bound in affliction and iron - Captives and slaves. Compare Psa 105:18.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv10–1410. Such as—All of this class, whether suffering torture…
10. Such as—All of this class, whether suffering torture by literal imprisonment or by the ordinary afflictions of life, which limit and restrain their freedom.
Sit in darkness and… shadow of death—The description seems borrowed from Isa_9:1-2; Isa_49:9.
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Affliction and iron—Either make the former term general and the latter specific, or by hendiadys “torturing iron,” or the latter exegetical of the former, as if it read affliction even in iron, such as that of Jehoahaz, Manasseh, and Zedekiah. 2Ki_23:31-33; 2Ch_33:11; 2Ki_25:7; Jer_39:7
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 vv10–1210. Such as sit &c.] Those that sat. The…
10. Such as sit &c.] Those that sat. The darkness of the dungeon—ancient prisons were usually unlighted vaults—is a figure for misery, especially the misery of captivity and exile. Cp. Isa_9:2; Isa_42:7; Isa_49:9; Mic_7:8.
the shadow of death] Or, deathly gloom. Cp. Psa_23:4; Psa_44:19.
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being bound &c.] A reminiscence of Job_36:8, “If they be bound in fetters, and be taken in the cords of affliction.” The whole context, treating of the remedial discipline of affliction, should be compared. Cp. also Psa_105:18, “Whose feet they afflicted,” and “iron” = fetters.
10–16. A second example of Divine goodness, in the liberation of prisoners, or captives languishing in the dungeon of exile in punishment for their rebellion against God. The Targ. interprets the passage of Zedekiah and the nobles of Judah in captivity at Babylon.
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 vv10, 11, 12, 14(10) In darkness.—A common synonym for a dungeon. (See…
(10) In darkness.—A common synonym for a dungeon. (See Isa_42:7; Isa_49:9, both of the exiles in Babylon; comp. Mic_7:8.)
This description, applicable to prisons in all ages but the most modern, was especially suitable for those of the ancients, who admitted no light at all; e.g., the Mamertine prison at Rome. Comp. Virgil, Æn. vi. 734:
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“Neque auras
Dispiciunt clausæ tenebris et carcere cæco.”
In affliction and iron.—Both words are found also in Psa_105:18, but distributed into the two clauses of the verse—hurt, iron. (Comp., too, Job_36:8, “bound in fetters and holden in cords of affliction.”) The LXX. and Vulg. have “in poverty and in iron.”
(10-16) The prisoners.
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 vv10–14Vers. 10-16. There are others afflicted differently struck down…
Vers. 10-16. There are others afflicted differently struck down by some grievous calamity, imprisonment, earthly ruin, down fall of their hopes, a sense of their bondage to sin who suffer perhaps even more than the dissatisfied wanderers. They too may cry to God in their trouble; and when they do, they experience his mercy. Let them join in the chorus of praise.
Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. (comp. Job_16:16 Job_36:8) The expressions used are purposely vague, being intended to cover various sorts of misery. Being bound in affliction and iron; i.e. "in an affliction which holds them like bands of iron" (comp. ver. 17).
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Charles H. Spurgeon1885 · Public DomainOn vv10–14Ver. 10. Such as sit in darkness and in…
Ver. 10. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. The cell is dark of itself, and the fear of execution casts a still denser gloom over the prison. Such is the cruelty of man to man that tens of thousands have been made to linger in places only fit to be tombs; unhealthy, suffocating, filthy sepulchres, where they have sickened and died of broken hearts. Meanwhile the dread of sudden death has been the most hideous part of the punishment; the prisoners have felt as if the chill shade of death himself froze them to the very marrow. The state of a soul under conviction of sin is forcibly symbolized by such a condition; persons in that state cannot see the promises which would yield them comfort, they sit still in the inactivity of despair, they fear the approach of judgment, and are thereby as much distressed as if they were at death's door.
Being bound in affliction and iron. Many prisoners have been thus doubly fettered in heart and hand; or the text may mean that affliction becomes as an iron band to them, or that the iron chains caused them great affliction. None know these things but those who have felt them; we should prize our liberty more if we knew by actual experience what manacles and fetters mean. In a spiritual sense affliction frequently attends conviction of sin, and then the double grief causes a double bondage. In such cases the iron enters into the soul, the poor captives cannot stir because of their bonds, cannot rise to hope because of their grief, and have no power because of their despair. Misery is the companion of all those who are shut up and cannot come forth. O ye who are made free by Christ Jesus, remember those who are in bonds.
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Ver. 10. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron. Every son of Adam in his natural state before he is redeemed is in "darkness" and "the shadow of death", and is fast "bound" with the chains of sin and misery, and there is no help for him upon earththe Almighty God and Saviour alone is able to deliver him. William Romaine.
Psalms 107:11*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v14He brought them out of darkness and the shadow…
Psa_107:14-16
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death.
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Song for the free, and hope for the bound
The deliverance here intended is one which is brought to us by redemption, and comes by the way of the great sacrifice upon Calvary.
I. Who are these favoured men?
1. Guilty men (verse 11). Hear this, ye sinful ones, and take heart! God has wrought great wonders for a people whom it seemed impossible for Him to notice. If they came into prison through rebellion, you would expect Him to leave them there. Yet rebels are set free by an act of immeasurable grace. The Redeemer has received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also.
2. Doomed men (verse 10). It is your condemned condition which needs free mercy; and, behold, the Lord meets your need in His boundless grace!
3. Bound men (verse 10). You long to be delivered, but you are unable to cut the cords which hold you. Jesus Christ has come on purpose that He might proclaim the opening of the prisons to them that are bound.
4. Weary men (verse 12). Come unto Me, etc.
5. Downcast men (verse 12). The Lord Jesus delights to lift up those that lie at His feet.
6. Helpless men. What a word that is--None to help! The proverb says, God helps those that help themselves. There is a sort of truth in it; but I venture to cover it with a far greater truth: God helps those that cannot help themselves. When there is none to help thee, then God will help thee.
7. They did at last take to praying (verse 13). There is that about prayer which makes it a token for good, a pledge of blessings on the road, a door of hope in dark hours. Where is the man that cries? Where is the man that prays? That is the man of whom it shall be said, and of others like him, The Lord brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, etc.
II. How has this deliverance been wrought?
1. By the Lord Himself. There is no salvation worth the having which has not the hand of the Godhead in it. None but the Trinity can deliver a captive soul from the chains of sin, and death, and hell.
2. Next, the Lord did it alone He hath broken the gates of brass. Nobody else was there to aid in liberating the prisoner. When our Lord Jesus trod the winepress, He was alone. When the Spirit of God came to work in us eternal life, He wrought alone.
3. By the Lords own goodness. He gives the alms of His grace only to the undeserving.
4. Most completely--light, life, and liberty.
5. Everlastingly. O child of God, you were once shut up as with gates of brass, and bars of iron, and the devil thinks that one of these days he will get you behind those gates again! But he never will, for the Lord hath broken the gates of brass. The means of our captivity are no longer available.
III. What is to be done about this?
1. If the Lord has set any of you free--record it. Say, The Lord hath done great things for us.
2. When you have recorded it, then praise God with all your heart, every one of you, every day. When you have praised God yourselves, then entreat others to join with you. The oratorio of Gods praise needs a full choir. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
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Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v10The second paragraph treats of captives.
The second paragraph treats of captives.
v. 10. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, in miserable captivity, such as that of King Manasseh, being bound in affiliation and iron, bound in pain and torture, especially by iron fetters of a shameful imprisonment,
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v. 11. because they rebelled against the words of God, proclaimed for their salvation, and contemned the counsel of the Most High, their rejection of God’s gracious purposes in their behalf, combined with blasphemy, tending to frustrate His designs;
v. 12. therefore He brought down their heart with labor, humiliating them by means of the distress which He laid upon them; they fell down, and there was none to help, it being the aim of God to bring them to a realization of their helplessness.
v. 13. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, having finally gained understanding, and He saved them out of their distresses, delivered them out of their anxious situation.
v. 14. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and brake their bands in sunder.
v. 15. Oh, that men, that is, men having had such experiences, would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men, v. 8.
v. 16. For He hath broken the gates of brass, in setting free the captives, and cut the bars of iron in sunder, this summary being like Isa 45:2. The application of these words to men of all times who have resisted the work of the Holy Ghost, but have been brought to repentance by the visitation of the Lord, is again obvious.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv11, 14they had rebelled against God's word ... rejected the…
they had rebelled against God's word ... rejected the instruction of the Most High
These phrases have similar meanings and emphasize how much they had rebelled again God, which is why they had been imprisoned. (See: Parallelism)
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He humbled their hearts through hardship
Here the heart represents a person, but specifically his will. AT: "He humbled them by allowing them to suffer hardship" (See: Synecdoche)
hardship
Possible meanings are 1) "trouble" or 2) "hard labor."
they stumbled and there was no one to help them up
The word "stumbled" refers to times when these people got into very difficult situations. AT: "they got into trouble and there was no one to help them out of it" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Then they called out to Yahweh in their trouble
It is implied that they are praying to Yahweh so that he will help them. See how you translated this in Psalms 107:6. AT: "Then they prayed to Yahweh to help them in their trouble" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
their distress
"difficulties" or "afflictions." See how you translated this in Psalms 107:6
he brought
Here David describes Yahweh saving them from their distress as if their distress were a physical place that he was bringing them out of. AT: "he saved" (See: Metaphor)
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv10–11 10. They who dwell in darkness The Spirit of…
10. They who dwell in darkness The Spirit of God makes mention here of another species of danger in which God manifestly discovers his power and grace in the protecting and delivering of men. The world, as I said, calls these vicissitudes the sport of fortune; and hardly one among a hundred can be found who ascribes them to the superintending providence of God. It is a very different kind of practical wisdom which God expects at our hands; namely, that we ought to meditate on his judgments in the time of adversity, and on his goodness in delivering us from it. For surely it is not by mere chance that a person falls into the hands of enemies or robbers; neither is it by chance that he is rescued from them. But this is what we must constantly keep in view, that all afflictions are God’s rod, and that therefore there is no remedy for them elsewhere than in his grace. If a person fall into the hands of robbers or pirates, and be not instantly murdered, but, giving up all hope of life, expects death every moment; surely the deliverance of such a one is a striking proof of the grace of God, which shines the more illustriously in proportion to the fewness of the number who make their escape. Thus, then, should a great number perish, this circumstance ought by no means to diminish the praises of God. On this account the prophet charges all those with ingratitude, who, after they have been wonderfully preserved, very soon lose sight of the deliverance thus vouchsafed to them. And, to strengthen the charge, he brings forward, as a testimony against them, their sighs and cries. For when they are in straits, they confess in good earnest that God is their deliverer; how happens it, then, that this confession disappears when they are enjoying peace and quietness?
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 vv11, 13 Then the true way to obey God, is to…
Then the true way to obey God, is to follow his express commandment: also hereby all are exhorted to descend into themselves, forasmuch as none are punished but for their sins.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv10–14 Psa 107:10 Such as sit in darkness and in…
Psa 107:10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, [being] bound in affliction and iron;
Ver. 10. Such as sit in darkness, &c.] Here come in the second sort of God’s redeemed or rescued ones, viz. captives and prisoners, whose dark and doleful condition is in this verse described.
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And in the shadow of death] In dark caves and horrid prisons, where there is Luctus ubique payor, et plurima morris imago. Such was Joseph’s first prison, Jeremiah’s miry dungeon, Lollards’ tower, the bishop of London’s coalhouse, &c.
Being bound in affliction and iron] Or, in poverty and iron, as Manasseh was. Many are the miseries that poor prisoners undergo. Good Savonarola had the experience of it, and Zegedine, and the martyrs, and various of God’s dear servants in the recent wars here. A certain pious prince, discoursing about the dangers that were to be then expected for the profession of religion, said, Nihil so magis metuere quam diuturnos carceres, that he feared nothing so much as perpetual imprisonment.
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 vv10–12 In darkness and in the shadow of death; in…
In darkness and in the shadow of death; in a disconsolate and forlorn condition, in dark prisons or dungeons.
In affliction and iron; with afflicting or grievous irons. Or, in the cords of affliction, as they are called, Job 36:8, and particularly in iron fetters.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v10 We are to take notice of the goodness of…
We are to take notice of the goodness of God towards prisoners and captives. Observe, 1. A description of this affliction. Prisoners are said to sit in darkness (Psa 107:10), in dark dungeons, close prisons, which intimates that they are desolate and disconsolate; they sit in the shadow of death, which intimates not only great distress and trouble, but great danger. Prisoners are many times appointed to die; they sit despairing to get out, but resolving to make the best of it. They are bound in affliction, and many times in iron, as Joseph. Thus sore a calamity is imprisonment, which should make us prize liberty, and be thankful for it. 2. The cause of this affliction, Psa 107:11. It is because they rebelled against the words of God. Wilful sin is rebellion against the words of God; it is a contradiction to his truths and a violation of his laws. They contemned the counsel of the Most High, and thought they neither needed it nor could be the better for it; and those that will not be counselled cannot be helped. Those that despise prophesying, that regard not the admonitions of their own consciences nor the just reproofs of their friends, contemn the counsel of the Most High, and for this they are bound in affliction, both to punish them for and to reclaim them from their rebellions. 3. The design of this affliction, and that is to bring down their heart (Psa 107:12), to humble them for sin, to make them low in their own eyes, to cast down every high, proud, aspiring thought. Afflicting providences must be improved as humbling providences; and we not only lose the benefit of them, but thwart God's designs and walk contrary to him in them if our hearts be unhumbled and unbroken, as high and hard as ever under them. Is the estate brought down with labour, the honour sunk? Have those that exalted themselves fallen down, and is there none to help them? Let this bring down the spirit to confess sin, to accept the punishment of it, and humbly to sue for mercy and grace. 4. The duty of this afflicted state, and that is to pray (Psa 107:13): Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, though before perhaps they had neglected him. Prisoners have time to pray, who, when they were at liberty, could not find time; they see they have need of God's help, though formerly they thought they could do well enough without him. Sense will make men cry when they are in trouble, but grace will direct them to cry unto the Lord, from whom the affliction comes and who alone can remove it. 5. Their deliverance out of the affliction: They cried unto the Lord, and he saved them, Psa 107:13. He brought them out of darkness into light, welcome light, and then doubly sweet and pleasant, brought them out of the shadow of death to the comforts of life, and their liberty was to them life from the dead, Psa 107:14. Were they fettered? He broke their bands asunder. Were they imprisoned in strong castles? He broke the gates of brass and the bars of iron wherewith those gates were made fast; he did not put back, but cut in sunder. Note, When God will work deliverance the greatest difficulties that lie in the way shall be made nothing of. Gates of brass and bars of iron, as they cannot keep him out from him people (he was with Joseph in the prison), so they cannot keep them in when the time, the set-time, for their enlargement, comes. 6. The return that is required from those whose bands God has loosed (Psa 107:15): Let them praise the Lord for his goodness, and take occasion from their own experience of it, and share in it, to bless him for that goodness which the earth is full of, the world and those that dwell therein.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv10–14 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour,.... Humbled…
Therefore he brought down their heart with labour,.... Humbled them under his mighty hand; brought down their haughty spirits and proud stomachs by one afflictive providence or another; by which the Lord humbles men, as he did the Israelites in the wilderness, and hides pride from them: or with trouble of mind, under a conviction of sin; when pride, which is the cause of rebellion against God, and of contempt of his counsel, is brought down, and the haughtiness of man laid low; and when men, humbled under a sense of sin, are made willing to submit to Christ and his righteousness, to God's way of saving sinners by him, to the law of God, and to the Gospel of Christ.
They fell down; they threw themselves prostrate at his feet for mercy; their heart and strength failed them, as the word signifies, and is used in Psa 31:10, terrified with a sense of divine wrath, they could not stand before the Lord, nor brave it out against him.
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And there was none to help; they could not help themselves, nor was there any creature that could. There is salvation in no other than in Christ; when he saw there was none to help him in that work, his own arm brought salvation to him; and when sinners see there is help in no other, they apply to him, as follows.
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John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv10, 12 Darkness - In dark prisons or dungeons.
Darkness - In dark prisons or dungeons.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv10–14 Verse 10. Such as sit in darkness] Here begins…
Verse 10. Such as sit in darkness] Here begins the SECOND similitude, which he uses to illustrate the state of the captives in Babylon, viz., that of a prisoner in a dreary dungeon.
1. They sit in or inhabit darkness. They have no light, no peace, no prosperity.
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2. "In the shadow of death." The place where death reigns, over which he has projected his shadow; those against whom the sentence of death has been pronounced.
3. They are bound in this darkness, have no liberty to revisit the light, and cannot escape from their executioners.
4. They are afflicted, not only by want and privation in general, but they are tortured in the prison, עני oni, afflicted, humbled, distressed.
5. Their fetters are such as they cannot break; they are iron. The reason of their being in this wretched state is given.
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 v10 Psa 107:10-12. Such as sit in darkness, &c. —…
Psa 107:10-12. Such as sit in darkness, &c. — In a disconsolate and forlorn condition, in dark prisons or dungeons; bound in affliction and iron — In afflicting or grievous irons: or, in the cords of affliction, as the expression is Job 36:8, and particularly in iron fetters. Because they rebelled, &c. — As a just punishment for the crimes they had rebelliously committed against the express commands of God, or the plain dictates and frequent checks of their own consciences; which were the voice of the Most High, giving them wholesome counsel, though they contemned and despised it: therefore he brought down their heart — The pride, and rebellion, and obstinacy of their hearts; with labour — Hebrew, בעמל, begnamal, with pain, or trouble. They fell down and there was none to help — They fell into their enemies’ hands, and into hopeless and remediless miseries. Then they cried unto the Lord, &c. — Yet, upon making their requests to the Lord, and earnestly beseeching him to take pity on their wretched condition, he was pleased mercifully to hear their prayers, and save them out of their distresses. “In this second piece of divine scenery, we behold a people groaning under all the miseries of captivity, deprived of light and liberty, chained down in horrid dungeons, and there expecting the day of execution. These calamities they are represented as having brought upon themselves, by their rebellion against God, who takes this method of humbling them. It succeeds, and brings them upon their knees to Him who alone is able to deliver them. Moved by their cries, he exerts his power on their behalf, and frees them from the house of bondage. To a state of corporal servitude, the Israelites, for their transgressions, were frequently reduced, and many times experienced, upon their repentance, the goodness of Jehovah in rescuing them from it. But the grand and universal captivity is that of sin and death; the grand and universal deliverance, for which all the redeemed of the Lord ought to praise his mercy, is that by Jesus Christ.” When this deliverance is experienced, although but in part; when the sinner, who has cried earnestly to the Lord in his trouble on account of sin, is brought out of the prison of guilt, condemnation, and wrath, and has received the Spirit of life from Christ Jesus, making him free from the law, or commanding, constraining power, of sin and death; “his chains, like those of St. Peter, fall off at the word of his deliverer; he is saved out of his distress; he is brought out of darkness and the shadow of death, into the glorious light and liberty of the sons of God. The joy consequent upon such a deliverance will be exceeded only by that which shall take place in the hearts, and be expressed by the voices of the redeemed, on the day when Christ shall accomplish the redemption of their bodies also, as he hath already effected that of his own, from the power of the grave; when he shall dash in pieces the brazen gates and adamantine bars of that prison- house; put an end for ever to the bondage of corruption, and lead captivity captive into the highest heavens.” — Horne.
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 vv10–14 Such as sit in darkness - The reference in…
Such as sit in darkness - The reference in these verses Psa 107:10-14 is evidently to the children of Israel, when in Babylon; and the design is, to show the goodness of God to them in their trouble, and the occasion which they had for praising him on that account. To “sit in darkness” is significant of great ignorance (compare the notes at Luk 1:79; notes at Isa 9:2); or of affliction and trouble, as darkness is an emblem of calamity.
And in the shadow of death - A dark, gloomy, chilly shade such as “Death” would cast if he stood between us and the light. See the notes at Job 3:5; compare Job 10:21; Psa 23:4; Psa 44:19; Isa 9:2. The reference is to the sad and gloomy residence of the Hebrews in the land of captivity.
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Being bound in affliction and iron - Captives and slaves. Compare Psa 105:18.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv10–14 10. Such as—All of this class, whether suffering torture…
10. Such as—All of this class, whether suffering torture by literal imprisonment or by the ordinary afflictions of life, which limit and restrain their freedom.
Sit in darkness and… shadow of death—The description seems borrowed from Isa_9:1-2; Isa_49:9.
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Affliction and iron—Either make the former term general and the latter specific, or by hendiadys “torturing iron,” or the latter exegetical of the former, as if it read affliction even in iron, such as that of Jehoahaz, Manasseh, and Zedekiah. 2Ki_23:31-33; 2Ch_33:11; 2Ki_25:7; Jer_39:7
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 vv10–12 10. Such as sit &c.] Those that sat. The…
10. Such as sit &c.] Those that sat. The darkness of the dungeon—ancient prisons were usually unlighted vaults—is a figure for misery, especially the misery of captivity and exile. Cp. Isa_9:2; Isa_42:7; Isa_49:9; Mic_7:8.
the shadow of death] Or, deathly gloom. Cp. Psa_23:4; Psa_44:19.
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being bound &c.] A reminiscence of Job_36:8, “If they be bound in fetters, and be taken in the cords of affliction.” The whole context, treating of the remedial discipline of affliction, should be compared. Cp. also Psa_105:18, “Whose feet they afflicted,” and “iron” = fetters.
10–16. A second example of Divine goodness, in the liberation of prisoners, or captives languishing in the dungeon of exile in punishment for their rebellion against God. The Targ. interprets the passage of Zedekiah and the nobles of Judah in captivity at Babylon.
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 vv10, 11, 12, 14 (10) In darkness.—A common synonym for a dungeon. (See…
(10) In darkness.—A common synonym for a dungeon. (See Isa_42:7; Isa_49:9, both of the exiles in Babylon; comp. Mic_7:8.)
This description, applicable to prisons in all ages but the most modern, was especially suitable for those of the ancients, who admitted no light at all; e.g., the Mamertine prison at Rome. Comp. Virgil, Æn. vi. 734:
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“Neque auras
Dispiciunt clausæ tenebris et carcere cæco.”
In affliction and iron.—Both words are found also in Psa_105:18, but distributed into the two clauses of the verse—hurt, iron. (Comp., too, Job_36:8, “bound in fetters and holden in cords of affliction.”) The LXX. and Vulg. have “in poverty and in iron.”
(10-16) The prisoners.
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 vv10–14 Vers. 10-16. There are others afflicted differently struck down…
Vers. 10-16. There are others afflicted differently struck down by some grievous calamity, imprisonment, earthly ruin, down fall of their hopes, a sense of their bondage to sin who suffer perhaps even more than the dissatisfied wanderers. They too may cry to God in their trouble; and when they do, they experience his mercy. Let them join in the chorus of praise.
Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. (comp. Job_16:16 Job_36:8) The expressions used are purposely vague, being intended to cover various sorts of misery. Being bound in affliction and iron; i.e. "in an affliction which holds them like bands of iron" (comp. ver. 17).
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 vv10–14 Ver. 10. Such as sit in darkness and in…
Ver. 10. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. The cell is dark of itself, and the fear of execution casts a still denser gloom over the prison. Such is the cruelty of man to man that tens of thousands have been made to linger in places only fit to be tombs; unhealthy, suffocating, filthy sepulchres, where they have sickened and died of broken hearts. Meanwhile the dread of sudden death has been the most hideous part of the punishment; the prisoners have felt as if the chill shade of death himself froze them to the very marrow. The state of a soul under conviction of sin is forcibly symbolized by such a condition; persons in that state cannot see the promises which would yield them comfort, they sit still in the inactivity of despair, they fear the approach of judgment, and are thereby as much distressed as if they were at death's door.
Being bound in affliction and iron. Many prisoners have been thus doubly fettered in heart and hand; or the text may mean that affliction becomes as an iron band to them, or that the iron chains caused them great affliction. None know these things but those who have felt them; we should prize our liberty more if we knew by actual experience what manacles and fetters mean. In a spiritual sense affliction frequently attends conviction of sin, and then the double grief causes a double bondage. In such cases the iron enters into the soul, the poor captives cannot stir because of their bonds, cannot rise to hope because of their grief, and have no power because of their despair. Misery is the companion of all those who are shut up and cannot come forth. O ye who are made free by Christ Jesus, remember those who are in bonds.
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Ver. 10. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron. Every son of Adam in his natural state before he is redeemed is in "darkness" and "the shadow of death", and is fast "bound" with the chains of sin and misery, and there is no help for him upon earththe Almighty God and Saviour alone is able to deliver him. William Romaine.
Psalms 107:11*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow…
Psa_107:14-16
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death.
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Song for the free, and hope for the bound
The deliverance here intended is one which is brought to us by redemption, and comes by the way of the great sacrifice upon Calvary.
I. Who are these favoured men?
1. Guilty men (verse 11). Hear this, ye sinful ones, and take heart! God has wrought great wonders for a people whom it seemed impossible for Him to notice. If they came into prison through rebellion, you would expect Him to leave them there. Yet rebels are set free by an act of immeasurable grace. The Redeemer has received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also.
2. Doomed men (verse 10). It is your condemned condition which needs free mercy; and, behold, the Lord meets your need in His boundless grace!
3. Bound men (verse 10). You long to be delivered, but you are unable to cut the cords which hold you. Jesus Christ has come on purpose that He might proclaim the opening of the prisons to them that are bound.
4. Weary men (verse 12). Come unto Me, etc.
5. Downcast men (verse 12). The Lord Jesus delights to lift up those that lie at His feet.
6. Helpless men. What a word that is--None to help! The proverb says, God helps those that help themselves. There is a sort of truth in it; but I venture to cover it with a far greater truth: God helps those that cannot help themselves. When there is none to help thee, then God will help thee.
7. They did at last take to praying (verse 13). There is that about prayer which makes it a token for good, a pledge of blessings on the road, a door of hope in dark hours. Where is the man that cries? Where is the man that prays? That is the man of whom it shall be said, and of others like him, The Lord brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, etc.
II. How has this deliverance been wrought?
1. By the Lord Himself. There is no salvation worth the having which has not the hand of the Godhead in it. None but the Trinity can deliver a captive soul from the chains of sin, and death, and hell.
2. Next, the Lord did it alone He hath broken the gates of brass. Nobody else was there to aid in liberating the prisoner. When our Lord Jesus trod the winepress, He was alone. When the Spirit of God came to work in us eternal life, He wrought alone.
3. By the Lords own goodness. He gives the alms of His grace only to the undeserving.
4. Most completely--light, life, and liberty.
5. Everlastingly. O child of God, you were once shut up as with gates of brass, and bars of iron, and the devil thinks that one of these days he will get you behind those gates again! But he never will, for the Lord hath broken the gates of brass. The means of our captivity are no longer available.
III. What is to be done about this?
1. If the Lord has set any of you free--record it. Say, The Lord hath done great things for us.
2. When you have recorded it, then praise God with all your heart, every one of you, every day. When you have praised God yourselves, then entreat others to join with you. The oratorio of Gods praise needs a full choir. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v10 The second paragraph treats of captives.
The second paragraph treats of captives.
v. 10. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, in miserable captivity, such as that of King Manasseh, being bound in affiliation and iron, bound in pain and torture, especially by iron fetters of a shameful imprisonment,
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v. 11. because they rebelled against the words of God, proclaimed for their salvation, and contemned the counsel of the Most High, their rejection of God’s gracious purposes in their behalf, combined with blasphemy, tending to frustrate His designs;
v. 12. therefore He brought down their heart with labor, humiliating them by means of the distress which He laid upon them; they fell down, and there was none to help, it being the aim of God to bring them to a realization of their helplessness.
v. 13. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, having finally gained understanding, and He saved them out of their distresses, delivered them out of their anxious situation.
v. 14. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and brake their bands in sunder.
v. 15. Oh, that men, that is, men having had such experiences, would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men, v. 8.
v. 16. For He hath broken the gates of brass, in setting free the captives, and cut the bars of iron in sunder, this summary being like Isa 45:2. The application of these words to men of all times who have resisted the work of the Holy Ghost, but have been brought to repentance by the visitation of the Lord, is again obvious.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 14 they had rebelled against God's word ... rejected the…
they had rebelled against God's word ... rejected the instruction of the Most High
These phrases have similar meanings and emphasize how much they had rebelled again God, which is why they had been imprisoned. (See: Parallelism)
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He humbled their hearts through hardship
Here the heart represents a person, but specifically his will. AT: "He humbled them by allowing them to suffer hardship" (See: Synecdoche)
hardship
Possible meanings are 1) "trouble" or 2) "hard labor."
they stumbled and there was no one to help them up
The word "stumbled" refers to times when these people got into very difficult situations. AT: "they got into trouble and there was no one to help them out of it" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Then they called out to Yahweh in their trouble
It is implied that they are praying to Yahweh so that he will help them. See how you translated this in Psalms 107:6. AT: "Then they prayed to Yahweh to help them in their trouble" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
their distress
"difficulties" or "afflictions." See how you translated this in Psalms 107:6
he brought
Here David describes Yahweh saving them from their distress as if their distress were a physical place that he was bringing them out of. AT: "he saved" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
rebel
word of God
reject
Most High
humble
heart
stumble
trouble
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 vv10–12 107:10-16 The psalmist calls for thanksgiving and praise from…
107:10-16 The psalmist calls for thanksgiving and praise from people in despair over the consequences of their rebellion.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.