He will judge among the nations. He will heap up dead bodies. He will crush the ruler of the whole earth.
Parallel Translations
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He will judge among the nations. He will heap up dead bodies. He will crush the ruler of the whole earth.
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He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
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He will judge among the nations; He filleth it with dead bodies, He crusheth the head over a wide land.
Cross-references (21)
Passages linked to Psalms 110:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 68:21 But God will strike through the head of his enemies, the hairy scalp of such a one as still continues in his guiltiness.
- Isaiah 2:4 He will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
- Micah 4:3 and he will judge between many peoples, and will decide concerning strong nations afar off. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war any more.
- John 5:22 For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son,
- Revelation 19:11 I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and makes war.
- Isaiah 42:4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands wait for his law.”
- Revelation 14:20 The wine press was trodden outside of the city, and blood came out of the wine press, even to the bridles of the horses, as far as one thousand six hundred stadia.
- Genesis 3:15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
- 1 Samuel 2:10 Those who strive with Yahweh shall be broken to pieces. He will thunder against them in the sky. “Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
- Isaiah 11:3 His delight will be in the fear of Yahweh. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears;
- Isaiah 34:2-8 For Yahweh is enraged against all the nations, and angry with all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them. He has given them over for slaughter. Their slain will also be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies will come up. The mountains will melt in their blood. All of the army of the sky will be dissolved. The sky will be rolled up like a scroll, and all its armies will fade away, as a leaf fades from off a vine or a fig tree. For my sword has drunk its fill in the sky. Behold, it will come down on Edom, and on the people of my curse, for judgment. Yahweh’s sword is filled with blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. The wild oxen will come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land will be drunken with blood, and their dust made greasy with fat. For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
- Isaiah 42:1 “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.
- Isaiah 43:2-4 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you. For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Since you have been precious and honored in my sight, and I have loved you, therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life.
- Isaiah 51:5 My righteousness is near. My salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples. The islands will wait for me, and they will trust my arm.
- Isaiah 66:16-17 For Yahweh will execute judgment by fire and by his sword on all flesh; and those slain by Yahweh will be many. “Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves to go to the gardens, behind one in the middle, eating pig’s meat, abominable things, and the mouse, they shall come to an end together,” says Yahweh.
- Isaiah 66:24 “They will go out, and look at the dead bodies of the men who have transgressed against me; for their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”
- Ezekiel 38:21-22 I will call for a sword against him to all my mountains,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will enter into judgment with him with pestilence and with blood. I will rain on him, and on his hordes, and on the many peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower, with great hailstones, fire, and sulfur.
- Ezekiel 39:4 You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you, and all your hordes, and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the animals of the field to be devoured.
- Ezekiel 39:11-20 “ ‘ “It will happen in that day, that I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of those who pass through on the east of the sea; and it will stop those who pass through. They will bury Gog and all his multitude there; and they will call it ‘The valley of Hamon Gog’. “ ‘ “The house of Israel will be burying them for seven months, that they may cleanse the land. Yes, all the people of the land will bury them; and they will become famous in the day that I will be glorified,” says the Lord Yahweh. “ ‘ “They will set apart men of continual employment, who will pass through the land. Those who pass through will go with those who bury those who remain on the surface of the land, to cleanse it. After the end of seven months they will search. Those who pass through the land will pass through; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, then he will set up a sign by it, until the undertakers have buried it in the valley of Hamon Gog. Hamonah will also be the name of a city. Thus they will cleanse the land.” ’ “You, son of man, the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Speak to the birds of every sort, and to every animal of the field, “Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat meat and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. You shall eat fat until you are full, and drink blood until you are drunk, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. You shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war,” says the Lord Yahweh.’
- Joel 3:12-16 “Let the nations arouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.” Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near, in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. Yahweh will roar from Zion, and thunder from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will shake; but Yahweh will be a refuge to his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.
- Habakkuk 3:13 You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the land of wickedness. You stripped them head to foot.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain No power shall be able to resist him.
No power shall be able to resist him.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 110:6 He shall judge among the heathen, he…
Psa 110:6 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill [the places] with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
Ver. 6. He shall judge among the heathen] Do execution upon his enemies, as Psa 110:1, whether kings or commoners.
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He shall fill the places] The ditches of their own camps.
He shall wound the heads] Heb. head; cruentabit caput, whereby some understand the Roman empire, with its image, antichrist with his adherents, who are called heathens, Rev 11:2. Others, Turks and Saracens, reading the next words, Over the land of Rabbah, the chief city of the Ammonites, who were likewise Arabians; and so they make it an allusion to David’s victories over the Ammonites, 2Sa 10:6-19; 2Sa 12:26-31
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 Shall judge; either,
Shall judge; either,
1. Conquer and govern them; or rather,
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2. Condemn and punish them, as it is explained in the following clauses, and as this word is used, Gen 15:14; Rom 2:1,2; 1Pe 4:6, and elsewhere.
The places; or, the place of battle, which is necessarily supposed in the fight, and therefore may very well be understood. Dead bodies of his enemies, slain by his hand, and lying in the field in great numbers and heaps, and that unburied, to their greater infamy.
Shall wound the heads, Heb. the head; which may be understood, either,
1. Of some one person and eminent adversary of Christ, and of his kingdom; either the devil, by comparing this with Gen 3:15; Heb 2:14, who was indeed the head or ruler of many countries, and indeed of all nations, except that of Israel; or the Roman empire, which was the great enemy and obstructer of Christ’s kingdom, and therefore was to be destroyed by him, as is declared, Dan 2:44,45; 7:7, &c.; or the great antichrist, or the beast after which the whole world wondered, Rev 13:3, which Christ will destroy, as we read, 2Th 2:8, and in divers places of St. John’s Revelation. Or,
2. Of all those heads or princes which opposed him; the singular number head being here put collectively for heads, as is very usual in the Hebrew tongue and text; and so the meaning is, that none of Christ’s enemies, though never so many or great, and their empire be never so large and potent, shall be able to withstand his force, or escape out of his hand; and that he shall not only destroy the common soldiers, but also their greatest commanders and princes, who in such cases do frequently make their escape. But this and the other like passages, both here and in the prophets, are not to be understood grossly and carnally, but spiritually, according to the nature of Christ’s kingdom, the weapons of Christ’s warfare, by which he accomplished his great works, being spiritual; and therefore such must be his battles and judgments, as is evident from many other scriptures, although these also are followed many times with temporal plagues.
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 shall judge among the Heathen,.... Either rule among…
He shall judge among the Heathen,.... Either rule among the Gentiles, making them through his Gospel obedient by word and deed, and so reigning in their hearts by his Spirit and grace; and, by making many converts among them, enlarge his dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth: or inflict judgments on the Heathen; that is, the Papists, as they are called. These are the Gentiles to whom the outward court is given; the nations that will be angry when the time of his wrath, and to judge the dead, is come; and whom Christ will break in pieces with his iron rod; and are the Heathen that shall perish out of his land, when he is King over all the earth, Rev 11:2.
He shall fill the places with the dead bodies: the Targum adds,
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"of the ungodly that are slain;''
namely, at the battle of Armageddon; when the fowls of the air shall be called to eat the flesh of kings, captains, and mighty men; of horses and their riders; of all men, bond and free, great and small, Rev 19:17.
He shall wound the heads over many countries; that is, kings over many countries; as the Targum explains it: it is to be read in the singular number, "he shall wound the heads over a large country" (c); him who is the head over a large country; meaning either Satan, the god of this world, the wicked one, under whom the world lies; and who has deceived the inhabitants of the earth, and rules them at his pleasure; him Christ has wounded and bruised, even his head; destroyed him and all his power, policy, schemes, and works, agreeably to the first hint concerning him, Gen 3:15 or else antichrist, who is head over a large country, or many countries; the whore that sits on many waters, which are people, nations, and tongues, and reigns over the kings of the earth; who has seven heads and ten horns; one of whose heads has been wounded already, of which it has been curing again; but ere long this beast will receive such a wound from Christ, as that he will never recover of it; when he shall consume him with the breath of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming; see Rev 17:2, Th2 2:8. Musculus renders it, "the head of the country of Rabbah": and refers it to David's conquest of the king of the Ammonites, whose head city was Rabbah, Ch1 20:1.
(c) "caput super terram multam", Pagninus, Montanus; "vel amplam", Piscator, Coceius; so Gejerus & Michaelis.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Judge - Condemn and punish them. The places -…
Judge - Condemn and punish them. The places - Or, the place of battle. Dead bodies - Of his enemies. Heads - All those princes who oppose him. But this and the like passages are not to be understood grossly, but spiritually, according to the nature of Christ's kingdom.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. He shall judge among the heathen] David…
Verse 6. He shall judge among the heathen] David shall greatly extend his dominion, and rule over the Idumeans, Moabites, Philistines, c.
He shall fill-with the dead bodies] He shall fill pits - make heaps of slain there shall be an immense slaughter among his enemies.
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He shall wound the heads] He shall so bring down the power of all the neighbouring kings, as to cause them to acknowledge him as their lord, and pay him tribute.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 110:6. He shall judge among the heathen —…
Psa 110:6. He shall judge among the heathen — Shall demonstrate himself to all the heathen world to be their lawgiver and judge, and shall condemn and punish those that reject his salvation, and disobey his laws, rendering indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish unto all that refuse to obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, Rom 2:8-9. He shall fill the places with the dead bodies — Of his enemies, or of those powers whom he shall strike through in the day of his wrath; and he shall wound the heads — The principals, or rulers, over, or of, many countries — That is, the Roman emperors themselves, who shall then rule over the greatest part of the world, or all those princes who oppose him. The reader will easily discern that the psalmist here describes the exercise of Christ’s regal power and supreme dominion; his conquest over sin and sinners, and over all the opposition of the powers of darkness, in metaphorical expressions, taken from earthly conquests; and that this, and the like passages, are not to be understood literally and grossly, but figuratively and spiritually, according to the nature of Christ’s kingdom.
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 He shall judge among the heathen - Among the…
He shall judge among the heathen - Among the “nations.” That is, he shall set up a kingdom, or shall rule over the nations of the earth. He shall come to execute judgment and justice, and shall apportion to people what is due to them. See the notes at Isa 11:3-5.
He shall fill the places with the dead bodies - He shall make a great slaughter - indicative of conquest, and of the subjugation of the world to himself. It would be “as if” the bodies of the slain in battle strewed the ground, or filled the valleys of the earth.
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He shall wound the heads - The same word is used here that occurs in the previous verse, and that is there rendered “shall strike.” It is the language of “conquest,” as if the world was to be subdued to himself by war.
Over many countries - Margin, “great.” Over vast and extensive regions, carrying his conquests into distant lands. This will be fulfilled only when all the earth shall be subject to the reign of the Messiah. 1Co 15:24-28.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. He shall judge—See on Psa_110:5.
6. He shall judge—See on Psa_110:5.
Fill the places with the dead bodies—This may be considered as a simple carrying out of the figure, to give it symmetry and completeness, not to be applied literally. The gospel, indeed, makes no provision for civil war, or physical resistance, for its own propagation, but disclaims and forbids both. Yet, as physical resistance of the gospel, on the part of human governments, involves the natural rights of conscience and of human liberty, such oppression must originate wars, wherein, in a secondary sense, the issue will lie between the oppressors and the oppressed, but, in a higher sense, between the kingdom and government of Christ and the wicked persecutors of his cause. Such wars are a conflict between right and wrong, truth and error, Christ and the hostile powers of the earth; and they are the last appeal for justice on the part of the oppressed, against “those which destroy the earth.” In such cases Christ is the arbiter, who will cause wars to turn to the interests of humanity and the breaking down of obstacles to his kingdom. See Rev_11:17-18; Rev_19:11-21.
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Heads over many countries—Same as “kings,” Psa_110:5, where the word rendered strike through, is the same as wound here. The Hebrew for head is singular, and the clause might be rendered “The chief of the great, or wide, earth,” applying it to Satan. But such a rendering, though it formerly found favour, could not be sustained from the Old Testament standpoint. We should take it collectively for kings and heads of governments, or better, perhaps, with Bishop Alexander, for antichrist, “the head of a dark confederacy of evil, which shall not be shattered until the last dread struggle.”
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 6. He shall judge among the nations] The subject…
6. He shall judge among the nations] The subject of the sentence must be Jehovah. Cp. Psa_7:8; Psa_9:8; Psa_76:9. The nations are the enemies of Psa_110:2. On them He will execute judgement, vindicating the cause of His king and people.
he shall fill (the battle-field) with corpses] This is on the whole the best rendering of an obscurely brief phrase. The tense is, as before, a prophetic perfect.
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he shall shatter the heads over many countries] i.e. their rulers. But the usage of the phrase in Psa_68:21, Hab_3:13, points rather to the rendering, he shall shatter the head (of his enemies) over (all) the wide earth. The earth is the battle-field whereon He deals deadly blows upon all His enemies. Delitzsch and others think that the last words may also be rendered the land of Rabbah, and may contain at least an allusive reference to David’s conquest of the Ammonite capital (2Sa_12:26 ff.).
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 (6) He shall judge.—Comp. Psa_9:8, &c.
(6) He shall judge.—Comp. Psa_9:8, &c.
He shall fill.—The construction is peculiar, and in the Hebrew for heathen and corpses there is a play on words. A slight change in the vowel pointing gives a better construction than is obtained by understanding any word as the Authorised Version does, and critics generally: He judges among the heathen fulness of corpses. At first the poet meant to write, “He judges among the heathen fulness of judgment” (comp. Job_36:17), but, for the sake of the play on the sound, changed his words to “fulness of corpses.”
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He shall wound the heads.—Literally, crushes a head over a vast land, where “head” means, as in Jdg_7:16; Jdg_7:20, a band or host of men. The picture is of a vast battle-field with heaps of slain. Others understand, “the chief or master of a wide land.” (Comp. Hab_3:14, “head of his villages.”)
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 shall judge among the heathen; i.e. execute the…
He shall judge among the heathen; i.e. execute the royal office not only over Israel, but over the nations of the earth generally. (comp. Psa_7:9 Psa_9:9 Psa_96:10, etc.) He shall fill the places with the dead bodies; rather, he shall fill the earth with dead bodies; i.e. with the corpses of those whom he has slain while executing judgment. He shall wound the heads over many countries. Thus translated, the clause merely repeats ver. 5. Perhaps a better rendering is that of Dr. Kay, "He shall smite him that is head over the wide earth either Satan or "the central power of the whole confederacy of evil."
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. 6. He shall judge among the heathen, or,…
Ver. 6. He shall judge among the heathen, or, among the nations. All nations shall feel his power, and either yield to it joyfully or be crushed before it.
He shall fill the places with the dead bodies. In the terrible battles of his gospel all opponents shall fall till the field of fight is heaped high with the slain. This need not be understood literally, but as a poetical description of the overthrow of all rebellious powers and the defeat of all unholy principles. Yet should kings oppose the Lord with weapons of war, the result would be their overwhelming defeat and the entire destruction of their forces. Read in connection with this prophecy the passage which begins at the seventeenth verse of Re 19:1 and runs on to the end of the chapter. Terrible things in righteousness will be seen ere the history of this world comes to an end.
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He shall wound the heads over many countries. He will strike at the greatest powers which resist him, and wound not merely common men, but those who rule and reign. If the nations will not have Christ for their Head, they shall find their political heads to be powerless to protect them. Or the passage may be read, "he has smitten the head over the wide earth." The monarch of the greatest nation shall not be able to escape the sword of the Lord; nor shall that dread spiritual prince who rules over the children of disobedience be able to escape without a deadly wound. Pope and priest must fall, with Mahomet and other deceivers who are now heads of the people. Jesus must reign and they must perish.
Ver. 6. He shall fill the places with the dead bodies. This notes the greatness of the victory, that none should be left to bury the dead. There shall be an universal destruction of wicked men together in the day of God's wrath, they shall be bound up in bundles, and heaped for damnation, Mt 13:30; Ps 37:38; Isa 1:28; Ps 66:17. And it notes the shame and dishonour of the enemy, they shall be like dung upon the face of the earth, and shall be beholden to their victors for a base and dishonourable burial, as we see in the great battle with Gog and Magog, Eze 39:11-16. Edward Reynolds.
Ver. 6. Dead bodies. Either the corpses of the vanquished enemy; or (possibly) the living bodies of men in a state of servitude, as in Ge 47:18; Ne 9:37. (The construction as in Ex 15:9) In the latter case, the meaning may be: that the bodies of those who had been enslaved by the Usurper, Death, were now claimed back by their rightful Lord. The full number is claimed back. The "last enemy" being destroyed, "all things" are brought beneath Christ's sway. William Kay.
Ver. 6. The heads. Rather, the head; doubtless, the head of the Old Serpent (according to the prophecy in Ge 3:15), who acts in all who resist Christ. The verb "machats", which is used here, is employed to describe the prophetical and typical act of Jael, smiting the head of God's enemy, Sisera (Jud 5:26 4:22); and it is used in Ps 68:21, which describes Christ's victory, "God shall wound the head of his enemies"; and also by Hab 3:13, "Thou woundest the head out of the house of the wicked." Christopher Wordsworth.
Ver. 6. The fearful calamities which have happened to nations
through their sinful rejection of the Lord Jesus.
Psalms 110:7*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.