There they were in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous.
Parallel Translations
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There they were in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous.
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There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
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There are they in great fear; for God is with the righteous generation.
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to Psalms 14:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 112:2 His offspring will be mighty in the land. The generation of the upright will be blessed.
- Psalms 73:15 If I had said, “I will speak thus”; behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
- Psalms 24:6 This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek your face—even Jacob.
- Isaiah 43:1-2 But now Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel, says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. 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.
- Exodus 15:16 Terror and dread falls on them. By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone, until your people pass over, Yahweh, until the people you have purchased pass over.
- Esther 8:7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, “See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he laid his hand on the Jews.
- Psalms 22:30 Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.
- Psalms 46:5 God is within her. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn.
- Psalms 46:7 Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.
- Psalms 46:11 Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.
- Psalms 53:5 There they were in great fear, where no fear was, for God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you. You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.
- Proverbs 1:26-27 I also will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you, when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when your disaster comes on like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come on you.
- Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no one pursues; but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
- Isaiah 8:10 Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand, for God is with us.”
- Isaiah 41:10 Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
- Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel;” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”
- 1 Peter 2:9 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 him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
- Isaiah 12:6 Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for the Holy One of Israel is great among you!”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 5. There did they tremble with fear, The prophet…
5. There did they tremble with fear, The prophet now encourages himself and all the faithful with the best of all consolations, namely, that God will not forsake his people even to the end, but will at length show himself to be their defender. Some explain the adverb of place there, as meaning that God will take vengeance on the wicked in the presence of his saints, because they exercised their tyranny upon them. But I rather think that by this word there is expressed the certainty of their punishment, Though punishment had not as yet been actually inflicted on the oppressors of the people of God, of whom the Psalmist had spoken in the preceding verse, he speaks of their punishment as if it had taken place. The reason of this manner of speaking concerning things future in prophetic poetry, Horsley explains to be this, “That a scene typical of futurity is presented to the prophet’s imagination, and what he sees in that scene he speaks of as done.”
The particle שם, is used demonstratively, in reference to the scene which lies before the inspired poet’s fancy. “See there!” — Horsley.
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In the Septuagint version, to the words, there were they in great fear, there is added the words οὑ ουκ ἠν ὁ φόβος, Where there was no fear, the transcribers, perhaps, transferring it by memory from Psalm 53:6, or the translators adding the words by way of paraphrase.
“For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them,” (1 Thessalonians 5:3.)
The prophet, therefore, encourages and supports the faithful with this prospect, that the ungodly, when they think themselves free from all danger, and are securely celebrating their own triumphs, shall be overwhelmed with sudden destruction.
The reason of this is added in the last clause of the verse, namely, because God is determined to defend the righteous, and to take in hand their cause: For God is in the generation of the righteous Now, in order to preserve them safe, he must necessarily thunder in his wrath from heaven against their enemies, who unjustly oppress and waste them by violence and extortion. “Qui les foullent injustement et usent de violence et extorsion.” — Fr.
“Et tient leur parte, comme on dit.” — Fr.
In Psalm 53:5, the Psalmist adds a sentence which does not occur in this psalm, For God hath scattered the bones of him that besiegeth thee, thou shalt put them to shame; because God hath rejected them. By these words the prophet explains more clearly how God protects the righteous, that it is by delivering them from the jaws of death, just as if one were to put to flight those who had laid siege to a town, and were to set at liberty its inhabitants, who before were in great extremity and quite shut up. “Ne plus ne morns que si quelqu’un mettoit en fuite ceux qui auroyent dress, le siege derant une ville, et mettoit en liber, les habitans d’icelle qui estoyent auparavant en grande extremit, et bien enserrez.” — Fr.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Where they think themselves most sure.
Where they think themselves most sure.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 14:5 There were they in great fear: for…
Psa 14:5 There were they in great fear: for God [is] in the generation of the righteous.
Ver. 5. There were they in great fear] There? and they? and in great fear? where? and who? and what kind of fear was it they were in? For answer: There, that is, in the generation of the righteous, in the assemblies of the saints, according to that, Psa 76:3, "There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and battle. Selah." There, that is, in Salem, where is God’s tabernacle; and in Zion, where is his dwelling place, Psa 14:2, in the congregation, where the saints were praying. Or, there, that is, in the very place where they oppressed and devoured the poor, they were surprised with a sudden horror, In loco ubi opprimunt (R. David), even there where they had said, Peace and safety, &c., and where no fear was, Psa 53:5, no apparent cause of such an amazement, Isa 13:8. A panic terror fell upon them; they feared a fear, as the Hebrew hath it, but could not tell why; the hornet within stings them, and they have many a secret twinge that the world is never aware off Saul was afraid of David, and Catiline trembled upon the least noise made.
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For God is in the generation of the righteous] And natural conscience cannot but do homage to the image of God, stamped upon the natures and works of the godly. See it in the carriage of Nebuchadnezzar and Darius toward Daniel, sticking stoutly to his principles. The piety, patience, mercy, goodness, expressed by the righteous when oppressed, makes the hearts of wicked men ache within them; and they are sore afraid of the name of God called upon by them, Deu 28:10. Or, God is in the generation of the righteous, sc. Ad iuvandum eum, saith Aben Ezra, to support and succour them; and that strangely many times, the enemies themselves being judges, to their great astonishment.
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 There, i.e. in the place, or upon the spot,…
There, i.e. in the place, or upon the spot, where they practised these insolences, God struck them with a panic fear. Or, then, i.e. in the height of their tyranny and prosperous impiety, when they seemed to have no cause for it. An adverb of place for an adverb of time, of which there want not examples in Scripture and other authors, as hath been noted before. Or, thence, as this particle is rendered, Gen 2:10; 49:24; Isa 65:20; i.e. from that time; or for that cause, as some take it, and it may be taken, Job 35:12; Psa 36:12, i.e. for this their contempt of God and manifest injury to men.
In great fear, from their own guilty consciences, and the just expectation of Divine vengeance. Heb. they feared with fear, i.e. vehemently, where there was no cause of fear, as is here implied, (for they are now supposed to be in a state of power and tyranny,) as is expressed in the parallel place, Psa 53:5. Or, they shall be greatly afraid, the past tense being put for the future prophetically.
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For; for they remembered what a potent adversary they had, and therefore had cause enough to fear. Or, but, as this particle is taken, Gen 45:8; Psa 37:20; Ecc 2:10; 6:2. So he describes the contrary and safe condition of the righteous. Or, when, as it oft signifies, and so it answers to the then in the beginning of the verse, when God shall once appear for his people, a dreadful horror shall seize upon their wicked enemies.
In the generation of the righteous, i.e. among them, with his gracious and powerful presence to defend them, and to fight against their enemies. Or, God is for, &c., as the Hebrew beth oft signifies, that is, God is on their side, and therefore their enemies have great cause to tremble.
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 There were they in great fear,.... This, shows that…
There were they in great fear,.... This, shows that they had some knowledge of God, and consciousness of guilt, which they endeavoured to banish out of their minds by their fears of punishment; and these fears men of the most atheistic principles cannot get rid of. In Psa 53:5 it is added, "where no fear was": that is, any cause or reason for it: such men are often frightened at their own shadows, afraid to be in the dark alone, as Hobbes the atheist was. The wicked flee when no man pursues, and are chased by the sound of a shaken leaf; see Pro 28:1; or where there was no fear of God before their eyes, nor on their hearts, as well as no regard to men; or where before there were perfect peace and security, and no apprehension or dread of any calamity, ruin, and destruction;
for God is in the generation of the righteous, or "of the righteous One" (b); which some understood of Jesus Christ the righteous: and though the age or generation in which he lived was a very wicked one, yet God was with him; as was seen by the doctrines he taught, and the miracles he wrought; and which filled the Jews with panic fears, lest the Romans should come and take away their place and nation: but rather this is to be understood of the generation of the saints, who are righteous through the righteousness of Christ, and have the new man in them, which is created in righteousness and true holiness, and live soberly and righteously; these are sometimes called the generation of the upright, and of the children of God, and of them that seek him, Psa 112:2; in the midst of these God is, among them he affords his gracious presence, and is with them, for their help and assistance against their enemies: and as this makes them fearless of them, it fills their enemies with dread and terror; see Jos 2:9. The Targum renders it,
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"the Word of the Lord is in the generation of the righteous.''
(b) "justi", Montanus, Gejerus.
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 There - Upon the spot, where they practiced these…
There - Upon the spot, where they practiced these insolences, God struck them with a panick fear. For - God is on their side, and therefore their enemies have cause to tremble.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. There were they in great fear] This…
Verse 5. There were they in great fear] This is a manifest allusion to the history of the Canaanitish nations; they were struck with terror at the sight of the Israelites, and by this allusion the psalmist shows that a destruction similar to that which fell upon them, should fall on the Babylonians. Several of the versions add, from Ps 53:5, "Where no fear was." They were struck with terror, where no real cause of terror existed. Their fears had magnified their danger.
For God is in the generation] They feared the Israelites, because they knew that the Almighty God was among them.
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 14:5. There were they in great fear —…
Psa 14:5. There were they in great fear — In the place, or upon the spot where they practised these insolences: or, then, that is, in the height of their tyranny and prosperous impiety, when they seemed to have no cause for it, God struck them with a panic fear. Hebrew, פחדו פחד, pachadu pachad, they feared with fear, that is, vehemently, namely, from their own guilty consciences and the just expectation of divine vengeance. Or, they shall be greatly afraid, the past tense being put for the future prophetically. Thus Bishop Patrick understands it, whose paraphrase on the words is, “What a terror will it be to them to see the divine vengeance seize on them when they think themselves most secure!” For God is in the generation of the righteous — He, who is the righteous Judge, will not desert those that are faithful to him, but will graciously deliver them. Or, God is for the generation, &c., as the Hebrew particle ב, here used, often signifies: that is, God is on their side, and therefore their enemies have great cause to tremble.
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 There were they in great fear - Margin, as…
There were they in great fear - Margin, as in Hebrew, “they feared a fear.” The idea is, that they were in great terror or consternation. They were not calm in their belief that there was no God. They endeavored to be. They wished to satisfy themselves that there was no God, and that they had nothing to dread. But they could not do this. In spite of all their efforts, there was such proof of his existence, and of his being the friend of the righteous, and consequently the enemy of such as they themselves were, as to fill their minds with alarm. People cannot, by an effort of will, get rid of the evidence that there is a God. In the face of all their attempts to convince themselves of this, the demonstration of his existence will press upon them, and will often fill their minds with terror.
For God is in the generation of the righteous - The word “generation” here, as applied to the righteous, seems to refer to them as a “race,” or as a “class” of people. Compare Psa 24:6; Psa 73:15; Psa 112:2. It commonly in the Scriptures refers to a certain age or duration, as it is used by us, reckoning an age or generation as about thirty or forty years (compare Job 42:16); but in the use of the term before us the idea of an “age” is dropped, and the righteous are spoken of merely as a “class” or “race” of persons. The idea here is, that there were such manifest proofs that God was among the righteous, and that he was their friend, that the wicked could not resist the force of that evidence, however much they might desire it, and however much they might wish to arrive at the conclusion that there was no God. The evidence that he was among the righteous would, of course, alarm them, because the very fact that he was the friend of the righteous demonstrated that he must be the enemy of the wicked, and, of course, that they were exposed to his wrath.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. There were they in great fear—Literally, afraid with…
5. There were they in great fear—Literally, afraid with fear. The form is intensive. It would seem that the allusion is to some interposition of Jehovah, which had checked the heathen and wrought consternation, as in Dan_3:24-27. Several such instances occurred during the captivity. But the adverb may denote time instead of place, and read, then were they in fear, etc.; that is, when God arose to judgment.
Generation… righteous— “Generation,” here, means not only the people living at any one time, but, as a moral designation, as in this place, all people of a given sort or quality in any age. See note on Psa_12:7
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 5. This verse is commonly explained to refer to…
5. This verse is commonly explained to refer to the future, the perfect tense expressing the certain assurance of the Psalmist that judgement will be executed. Cp. Psa_36:12. But it is more natural to refer it to the past. ‘There’ points emphatically to some signal instance in which panic terror and overwhelming calamity overtook ‘the workers of iniquity.’ If Psa_14:4 may be understood of the oppression of Israel in Egypt, Psa_14:5 will refer to the overthrow of the Egyptians in the Red Sea (Exo_14:24-25). Psa_53:5 adds where no fear was, no natural cause for alarm.
for God &c.] Present among them to defend them. ‘The generation’ (see on Psa_12:7) ‘of the righteous’ is synonymous with ‘my people;’ either the nation, which might be so described in respect of its calling, and in contrast to its oppressors: or the godly part of it. Cp. Psa_118:15.
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 (5) There were they.—Literally, there they feared a fear,…
(5) There were they.—Literally, there they feared a fear, i.e., terror overtook them. Psalms 53 adds, “which was no fear.” The local “there” brings the scene before us as in a picture. We see them there before us, these wicked men; there in the midst of their intrigues, or their exactions, or their pleasures, the hand of God seizes them, and lo! they are struck with fear. We evidently have not here any indication by which to fasten on a particular event. Whether the addition in Psalms 53 gives any is discussed there.
For God is.—For the singular variation in Psalms 53 consult Note on Psa_14:5 of that psalm. The uneasy sense that, after all, the good have God on their side—this general truth is implied in the phrase “generations of the righteous,” even if first employed of faithful Israel—is always a cause of fear to the wicked.
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 There were they in great fear. "There in the…
There were they in great fear. "There in the midst of their evil-doing, while they are devouring God"s people a sudden terror seizes on them. Psa_53:5 adds, "Where no fear was," which seems to imply a panic terror, like that which seized the Syrians when they were besieging Samaria. (2Ki_7:6, 2Ki_7:7) For God is in the generation of the righteous. God"s people cannot be attacked without provoking him; they ere in him, and he in them; he will assuredly come to their relief.
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. 5. Oppressors have it not all their own…
Ver. 5. Oppressors have it not all their own way, they have their fits of trembling and their appointed seasons of overthrow. There where they denied God and hectored against his people; there where they thought of peace and safety, they were made to quail.
There were they these very loud mouthed, iron handed, proud hearted Nimrods and Herods, those heady, high minded sinners
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there were they in great fear. A panic terror seized them: "they feared a fear, "as the Hebrew puts it; an undefinable, horrible, mysterious dread crept over them. The most hardened of men have their periods when conscience casts them into a cold sweat of alarm. As cowards are cruel, so all cruel men are at heart cowards. The ghost of past sin is a terrible spectre to haunt any man, and though unbelievers may boast as loudly as they will, a sound is in their ears which makes them ill at ease.
For God is in the generation of the righteous. This makes the company of godly men so irksome to the wicked because they perceive that God is with them. Shut their eyes as they may, they cannot but perceive the image of God in the character of his truly gracious people, nor can they fail to see that he works for their deliverance. Like Haman, they instinctively feel a trembling when they see God's Mordecais. Even though the saint may be in a mean position, mourning at the gate where the persecutor rejoices in state, the sinner feels the influence of the believer's true nobility and quails before it, for God is there. Let scoffers beware, for they persecute the Lord Jesus when they molest his people; the union is very close between God and his people, it amounts to a mysterious indwelling, for God is in the generation of the righteous.
Ver. 5. There were they in great fear. That we may not mistake the meaning of the point, we must understand that this faintheartedness and cowardliness doth not always come upon presumptuous sinners when they behold imminent dangers, for though none of them have true courage and fortitude, yet many of them have a kind of desperate stoutness and resolution when they do, as it were, see death present before their faces; which proceedeth from a kind of deadness, that is upon their hearts, and a brawniness that hath overgrown their consciences to their greater condemnation. But when it pleaseth the Lord to waken them out of the dead slumber, and to set the worm of conscience work within them, then this doctrine holdeth true without any exception, that the boldest sinners prove at length the basest cowards: and they that have been most audacious in adventuring upon the most mischievous evils, do become of all others most timorous when God's revenging hand seizes upon them for the same. John Dod, 1547-1645.
Ver. 5. God is in the generation of the righteous; that is, he favours that generation or sort of men; God is in all generations, but such he delights in most: the wicked have cause enough to fear those in whom God delights. Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 5. The King of Glory cannot come into the heart (as he is said to come into the hearts of his people as such; Ps 24:9-10), but some glory of himself will appear; and as God doth accompany the word with majesty because it is his word, so he doth accompany his own children, and their ways, with majesty, yea, even in their greatest debasements. As when Stephen was brought before the council, as a prisoner at the bar for his life, then God manifested his presence to him, for it is said, "His face shone as the face of an angel of God" (Ac 6:15); in a proportionable manner it is ordinarily true what Solomon says of all righteous men, "A man's wisdom makes his face to shine." Ec 8:1. Thus Peter also speaks (1Pe 4:14): "If you be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you, for the Spirit, " not only of God, or of grace, but "of glory, resteth upon you." And so in the martyrs; their innocency, and carriage, and godly behaviour, what majesty had it with it! What an amiableness in the sight of the people, which daunted, dashed, and confounded their most wretched oppressors; so that although the wicked persecutors did eat up God's people as bread (Ps 14:4), yet it is added that they were in great fear upon this very account, that God is in the generation of the just. God stands, as it were, astonished at their dealings: Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, (so in the words afore) that they eat up my people as bread, and make no more ado of it that a man doth that heartily eats of his meat? They seem to do thus, they would carry it and bear it out; but for all that they are in great fear whilst they do thus, and God strikes their hearts with terror when they most insult. Why? For, God is in the generation of, or dwelleth in the just, and God gives often some glimmerings, hints, and warnings to the wicked (such as Pilate had concerning Christ), that his people are righteous. And this you may see in Php 1:28: "And in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God." In that latter passage, I observe that an assurance of salvation, and a spirit of terror, and that of God, is given either. In the Old Testament it is recorded of David (1Sa 18:12), that although Saul hated him (1Sa 18:9), and sought to destroy him (1Sa 18:10-11), "yet Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul; " which is the reason in hand. God manifested his presence in David, and struck Saul's conscience with his godly and wise carriage, and that made him afraid. Thomas Goodwin.
Ver. 5. The foolish fears of those who have no fear of God.
Ver. 5. The Lord's nearness to the righteous, its consequences to the persecutor, and its encouragement to saints.
Psalms 14:6*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 They tremble
They tremble
The word "they" refers to those who do evil things.
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God is with the righteous assembly
To say that "God is with" those who are righteous means that he helps them. This can be stated clearly in the translation. AT: "God helps those who act righteously" or "God helps those who do the right things" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
You want
The word "you" here refers to the wicked people.
to humiliate the poor person
"to make the person who is poor feel ashamed"
Yahweh is his refuge
This speaks of the protection that Yahweh provides as if he were a shelter that one might seek in a storm. AT: "Yahweh is like a shelter of protection to him" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
righteous
assembly
refuge
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 14:5 Though the wicked perish (1:5-6), God is with…
14:5 Though the wicked perish (1:5-6), God is with the godly.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.