For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me. Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul.
Parallel Translations
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For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me. Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul.
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For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.
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For without cause have they hid for me the pit, even their net, without cause have they digged for my soul.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Psalms 35:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 15:25 But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’
- Psalms 140:5 The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me.
- Psalms 9:15 The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.
- Job 18:8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he wanders into its mesh.
- Psalms 25:3 Yes, no one who waits for you will be shamed. They will be shamed who deal treacherously without cause.
- Psalms 69:4 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. I have to restore what I didn’t take away.
- Psalms 7:3-5 Yahweh, my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (yes, I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary), let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust.
- Psalms 119:85 The proud have dug pits for me, contrary to your law.
- Psalms 64:4 to shoot innocent men from ambushes. They shoot at him suddenly and fearlessly.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 7. For they have hid for me without a…
7. For they have hid for me without a cause. He here declares that he did not take the name of God in vain, nor call upon him for protection without just cause, for he openly asserts his innocence, and complains that he was thus severely afflicted without having committed any crime, or given any occasion to his enemies. It becomes us carefully to mark this, so that no one may rush unadvisedly into God’s presence, nor call upon him for vengeance, without the assurance and testimony of a good conscience. When he says that he was assailed by stratagem, fraud, and wicked practices, there is implied in this a tacit commendation of his own integrity.
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 Showing that we may not call God to be…
Showing that we may not call God to be a revenger, but only for his glory, and when our cause is just.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 35:7 For without cause have they hid for…
Psa 35:7 For without cause have they hid for me their net [in] a pit, [which] without cause they have digged for my soul.
Ver. 7. For without cause have they hid for me, &c.] The wicked are so acted and agitated by the devil, their task master, that, though they have no cause to work mischief to the saints, yet they must do it; the old enmity, Gen 3:15, still worketh; but this rendereth their destruction certiorem et celeriorem, more sure and more swift.
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 Out of mere malice, without any injury or provocation…
Out of mere malice, without any injury or provocation on my part, and without any necessity on their parts. They are no common, but the worst of enemies; and therefore I may justly pray against them, as I do. These expressions aggravate their sins, and signify that their persecution of him was not the effect of a midden passion, but of a deep and habitual hatred and malice, and of an evil design, carried on in a constant and continued course with deliberation, and cunning, and deceit, and that against his soul or life; for nothing less would satisfy them.
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 For without cause have they hid for me their…
For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit,.... This is said in allusion to the custom of digging pits, and putting nets into them, for the catching of wild beasts; and covering them with straw or dust, or such like things, as Jarchi observes, that they might not be discerned; and which intends the secret and crafty methods taken by David's enemies to ensnare him and destroy him; though he had given them no cause to use him in such a manner; which is an aggravation of their sins, and a reason of the above imprecations, as well as of what follows: and in the same manner, and without any just cause, Christ and his members have been treated by wicked men, and therefore their damnation is just, and will be inevitable:
which without cause they have digged for my soul; which is added for further explanation's sake, and to aggravate their sin, and to show the justness of their punishment.
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 For - Out of mere malice.
For - Out of mere malice.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. For without cause have they hid for…
Verse 7. For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit] The word שחת shachath, a pit, belongs to the second member of this verse, and the whole should be read thus: For without a cause they have hidden for me their net, without a cause they have digged a pit for my life. They have used every degree and species of cunning and deceit to ruin me.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For without cause have they hid for me their…
For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit - See Psa 7:15, note; Psa 9:15, note. This figure is derived from hunting. The idea is that of digging a pit or hole for a wild beast to fall into, with a net so concealed that the animal could not see it, and that might be suddenly drawn over him so as to secure him. The reference here is to plans that are laid to entrap and ruin others: plots that are concocted so as to secure destruction before one is aware. The psalmist says that, in his case, they had done this without “cause,” or without any sufficient reason. He had done them no wrong; he had given them no show of excuse for their conduct.
Which without cause they have digged for my soul - For my life. That is, they have digged a pit into which I might fall, and into which they designed that I should fall, though I have never done anything to give them occasion thus to seek my destruction.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain net in a pit--or, "pit of their net"--or, "net-pit,"…
net in a pit--or, "pit of their net"--or, "net-pit," as "holy hill" for "hill of holiness" (Psa 2:6); a figure from hunting (Psa 7:15). Their imprecations on impenitent rebels against God need no vindication; His justice and wrath are for such; His mercy for penitents. Compare Psa 7:16; Psa 11:5, on the peculiar fate of the wicked here noticed.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. Without cause—Hence the magnitude of their crime.
7. Without cause—Hence the magnitude of their crime.
Net in a pit— The figure changes from warlike description to the well known method of catching lions.
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 7. The word for pit must be transposed from…
7. The word for pit must be transposed from the first line, where it is superfluous and awkward, to the second line, where it is required. Render
For without cause have they hid a net for me:
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Without cause have they dug a pit for my soul (life).
The metaphors from the hunter’s nets and pitfalls express the insidious character of their secret plots. Cp. again Jer_18:20; Jer_18:22.
7, 8. The causelessness of their insidious enmity is the ground for such a prayer. May their schemes recoil on their own heads.
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 (7) Have they hid . . .—Literally, they have…
(7) Have they hid . . .—Literally, they have hid for me the pit of their net, which, as it stands, can mean nothing but a “pit with a net in it,” such as was used to entrap lions and other wild beasts. But it is better to remove the word “pit” to the second clause, thus doing away with the necessity of supplying a relative, and improving the rhythm.
“ For unprovoked they hid a net for me,
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Unprovoked they digged a pit for my soul.”
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 For without cause have they hid for me their…
For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit; literally, the pit of their net. This is explained by some to mean "the destruction of their net;" by others, "the pit that is covered by a net." But neither explanation is altogether saris-factory. Some therefore suppose an accidental transposition of a word. Which without cause they have digged for my soul. "Without cause" means "without provocation on my part."
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. 7. In this verse the psalmist brings forward…
Ver. 7. In this verse the psalmist brings forward the gravamen of his charge against the servants of the devil. For without cause --without my having injured, assailed, or provoked them; out of their own spontaneous malice have they hid for me their net in a pit, even as men hunt for their game with cunning and deception. Innocent persons have often been ruined by traps set for them, into which they have fallen as guilelessly as beasts which stumble into concealed pits, and are taken as in a net. It is no little thing to be able to feel that the enmity which assails us is undeserved-- not caused by any wilful offence on our part. Twice does David assert in one verse that his adversaries plotted against him without cause. Net making and pit digging require time and labour, and both of these the wicked will expend cheerfully if they may but overthrow the people of God. Fair warfare belongs to honourable men, but the assailants of God's church prefer mean, ungenerous schemes, and so prove their nature and their origin. We must all of us be on our guard, for gins and pitfalls are still the favourite weapons of the powers of evil.
Ver. 7. They hid for me their net in a pit. As if David had said that they had dug a pit, and covered and hid its mouth with a net, that I might pass upon it and fall into it. Kimchi.
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None.
Psalms 35:8*
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 set their net for me
they set their net for me
The schemes of the wicked are spoken of as if they were a net that they set to catch the writer. AT: "they want to catch me in a net like a small animal" (See: Metaphor)
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they dug a pit for my life
The schemes of the wicked are spoken of as if they were a pit that they dug to catch the writer. AT: "they wanted to capture me in a pit like a big animal" (See: Metaphor)
my life
This refers to the writer. AT: "me" (See: Synecdoche)
Let destruction overtake them by surprise
Destruction is spoken of as if it was a dangerous animal that would suddenly attack them. AT: "Let them be destroyed suddenly" or "Let them be surprised because you destroy them suddenly" (See: Personification)
the net that they have set
The schemes of the wicked are spoken of as if they were a net that they place to catch the writer. AT: "the net that they placed in order to capture me like an animal and harm me" (See: Metaphor)
Let them fall into it
This is the same metaphor as in verse 7. The net is intended to catch the writer. AT: "Let them fall into the pit that they dug for me" (See: Metaphor and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
fall into it
Possible meanings are 1) fall into the pit of verse 7 or 2) fall into destruction.
to their destruction
The abstract noun "destruction" can be stated as a verb. AT: "so that they will be destroyed" or "that is how you should destroy them" (See: Abstract Nouns)
translationWords
pit
life
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.