The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to kill those who are upright on the path.
Parallel Translations
-
The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to kill those who are upright on the path.
-
The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.
-
The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow; to cast down the poor and needy, to slay such as are upright in the way;
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Psalms 37:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 29:27 A dishonest man detests the righteous, and the upright in their ways detest the wicked.
- Psalms 11:2 For, behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrows on the strings, that they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
- Proverbs 29:10 The bloodthirsty hate a man of integrity; and they seek the life of the upright.
- 1 John 3:12 unlike Cain, who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
- 1 Samuel 24:11 Moreover, my father, behold, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and didn’t kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor disobedience in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, though you hunt for my life to take it.
- 1 Samuel 24:17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have done good to me, whereas I have done evil to you.
- Psalms 35:10 All my bones shall say, “Yahweh, who is like you, who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him; yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”
- Psalms 64:2-6 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil; who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and aim their arrows, deadly words, to shoot innocent men from ambushes. They shoot at him suddenly and fearlessly. They encourage themselves in evil plans. They talk about laying snares secretly. They say, “Who will see them?” They plot injustice, saying, “We have made a perfect plan!” Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning.
- Acts 7:52 Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.
- Acts 12:11 When Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I truly know that the Lord has sent out his angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from everything the Jewish people were expecting.”
- Habakkuk 1:13 You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,
- Matthew 23:30-34 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna? Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city;
- Acts 12:2-3 He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This was during the days of unleavened bread.
- Acts 12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn’t give God the glory. Then he was eaten by worms and died.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 14. The wicked draw their sword, and bend their…
14. The wicked draw their sword, and bend their bow. David now goes on to say, that the ungodly, being armed with sword and bow, threaten with death the children of God; and this he does in order to meet the temptation which would otherwise overwhelm them. The promises of God do not have place in a time of quietness and peace, but in the midst of severe and terrible conflicts. And, therefore, David now teaches us that the righteous are not deprived of that peace of which he had spoken a little before, although the wicked should threaten them with instant death. The sentence ought to be explained in this way: Although the wicked draw their swords and bend their bows to destroy the righteous, yet all their efforts shall return upon their own heads, and shall tend to their own destruction. But it is necessary to notice the particular terms in which the miserable condition of the righteous is here described, until God at length vouchsafe to help them. First, they are called poor and needy; and, secondly, they are compared to sheep devoted to destruction, because they have no power to withstand the violence of their enemies, but rather lie oppressed under their feet. Whence it follows, that a uniform state of enjoyment here is not promised to them in this psalm, but there is only set before them the hope of a blessed issue to their miseries and afflictions, in order to console them under them. But as it often happens that the wicked are hated and treated with severity for their iniquity, the Psalmist adds, that those who thus suffered were those who were of upright ways; meaning by this, that they were afflicted without cause. Formerly he described them as the upright in heart, by which he commended the inward purity of the heart; but now he commends uprightness in the conduct, and in fulfilling every duty towards our neighbor; and thus he shows not only that they are unjustly persecuted, because they have done no evil to their enemies, and have given them no cause of offense, but also, that though provoked by injuries, they nevertheless do not turn aside from the path of duty.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 37:14 The wicked have drawn out the sword,…
Psa 37:14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, [and] to slay such as be of upright conversation.
Ver. 14. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow] That they may assault the righteous, both cominus, nearer hand, and eminus, at a distance; for which purpose they come against him (like a walking armoury) with sword, bow, and other instruments of death; as resolved to kill and slay. "We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter," Rom 8:36.
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 They are furnished with all sorts of arms, and…
They are furnished with all sorts of arms, and are ready to give the deadly blow.
Such as be of upright conversation; such against whom they have no quarrel for any injury they have done them, but only for their integrity and righteousness, or because they are better than themselves, and will not comply with their wicked counsels and courses.
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 Their sword shall enter into their own heart,.... As…
Their sword shall enter into their own heart,.... As Saul's did into his, Sa1 31:4;
and their bows shall be broken; the meaning is, that their efforts shall be fruitless, and their attempts in vain; the mischief they have contrived and designed for others shall fall upon themselves; see Psa 7:15; and therefore the saints should not be fretful and envious.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 14. The wicked have drawn out the sword]…
Verse 14. The wicked have drawn out the sword] There is an irreconcilable enmity in the souls of sinners against the godly; and there is much evidence that the idolatrous Babylonians whetted their tongue like a sword, and shot out their arrows, even bitter words, to malign the poor captives, and to insult them in every possible way.
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 37:14-15. The wicked have drawn out the sword,…
Psa 37:14-15. The wicked have drawn out the sword, &c. — They are furnished with all sorts of arms, and are ready to give the deadly blow. To slay such as be of upright conversation — Those against whom they have no quarrel, for any injury they have done them; but only for their integrity and righteousness, or because they are better than themselves, and will not comply with their wicked counsels and courses. Their sword shall enter into their own heart — God will not only defend the upright from their mischievous designs, but will make those designs to fall upon their own heads. “I cannot but think,” says a writer quoted here by Dr. Dodd, “that David understood by these weapons, with which he has furnished the ungodly, their bitter and malicious invectives, their false and foul reproaches, &c. These were the arms, in the use of which, as he frequently complains, they were admirably well skilled.” Thus, (Psa 57:4,) speaking of wicked men, he says, Whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. And if so, then Psa 37:15 “will mean that their intention will be frustrated; they shall not do the mischief they intended; their bows shall be broken — And their invectives and calumnies shall recoil and do themselves hurt; their sharp sword, their false and malicious tongues, shall pierce through their own soul. And that this was the psalmist’s meaning, who can doubt, after reading Psa 64:3, where the wicked doers are said to have whet their tongue like a sword, and to shoot out their arrows, even bitter words.”
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 The wicked have drawn out the sword - That…
The wicked have drawn out the sword - That is, they have prepared themselves with a full purpose to destroy the righteous.
And have bent their bow - literally, “have trodden the bow,” in allusion to the method by which the bow was bent: to wit, by placing the foot on it, and drawing the string back.
Read full note →
To cast down the poor and needy - To cause them to fall.
And to slay such as be of upright conversation - Margin, as in Hebrew: “the upright of way.” That is, those who are upright in their manner of life, or in their conduct.
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 sword, and . . . bow--for any instruments of…
sword, and . . . bow--for any instruments of violence.
slay--literally, "slaughter" (Sa1 25:11).
Read full note →
poor and needy--God's people (Psa 10:17; Psa 12:5). The punishment of the wicked as drawn on themselves--often mentioned (compare Psa 7:15-16; Psa 35:8).
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 14. Drawn out the sword… bent their bow—Two acts…
14. Drawn out the sword… bent their bow—Two acts preparatory to immediate destruction; but in Psa_37:15 the lex talionis—the law of universal justice—is seen to recoil these death weapons upon themselves.
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 14. Sword and bow are not merely figurative expressions…
14. Sword and bow are not merely figurative expressions for any means of inflicting injury. The Psalm deals with a state of society in which the poor and defenceless were in constant danger of actual violence (Psa_37:32). Cp. Pro_1:10 ff.
the poor and needy] Or, the afflicted and needy. See notes on Psa_9:12; Psa_9:18 : and cp. Amo_8:4; Isa_32:7; Jer_22:16.
Read full note →
such as be of upright conversation] Lit. the upright of way: those whose life and conduct are upright. Cp. Psa_119:1. The LXX however reads upright in heart (Psa_36:10, and often).
conversation, as in Psa_50:23, has the obsolete sense of manner of life, behaviour.
14, 15. Stanza of Cheth. The machinations of the wicked recoil upon themselves. Cp. Psa_7:15 ff.; Psa_9:15 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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The wicked have drawn out the sword, and bent…
The wicked have drawn out the sword, and bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy. David is perhaps thinking especially of his own persecutors, Saul and Absalom, who pursued after him with armed men, and sought his life. (1Sa_23:8, 1Sa_23:14, 26 24:2 26:2 2Sa_17:24-26 2Sa_18:6-8) But he may also have in his mind the raids that powerful chiefs made upon their weak and peaceful neighbours. (Job_24:5-12) And to slay such as be of a right conversation; or, such as are upright in way; i.e. such as lead a righteous.
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. 14. The wicked have drawn out the sword.…
Ver. 14. The wicked have drawn out the sword. They hold their weapon out of its sheath, and watch for a time to use it. And have bent their bow. One weapon is not enough, they carry another ready for action. They carry so strong a bow that they have trodden upon it to bend itthey will lose nothing for want of force or readiness. To cast down the poor and needy. These are their game, the objects of their accursed malice. These cowards attack not their equals, but seek out those excellent ones who, from the gentleness of their spirits and the poverty of their estates, are not able to defend themselves. Note how our meek and lowly Lord was beset by cruel foes, armed with all manner of weapons to slay him. And to slay such as be of upright conversation. Nothing short of the overthrow and death of the just will content the wicked. The sincere and straightforward are hated by the crafty schemers who delight in unrighteousness. See, then, the enemies of the godly doubly armed, and learn how true were our Lord's words, "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of this world, but I have chosen you our of the world, therefore the world hateth you."
Ver. 14-15. The tongue is a sword and a bow, which shooteth its arrows, even bitter words, against the humble and upright, Jesus and his disciples. But these are not the only weapons that have been drawn against them. How the malice of the Jews returned upon their own heads no one is ignorant, though few lay it to heart, and consider them as set forth for an example. George Horne.
Read full note →
Ver. 14-15. When the wicked are most near to do a mischief to the Lord's people, then is a mischief most near unto them. David Dickson.
Ver. 14. Upright conversation.
1. What it excludes. The horizontal or earthly, the crooked or crafty, the slanting or sinister.
2. What it includes. Motive, object, language, action.
3. What it achieves. It stands like a pillar; it supports like a column; it ascends like a tower; it adorns like a monument; it illuminates like a Pharos.
Psalms 37:15*
Ver. 14-15. See Psalms on "Ps 37:14" for further information.
Ver. 14-15. When the wicked are most near to do a mischief to the Lord's people, then is a mischief most near unto them. David Dickson.
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 The wicked
The wicked
This refers to the wicked people. AT: "The wicked people" (See: Nominal Adjectives)
Read full note →
have drawn out their swords ... have bent their bows
Both "swords" and "bows" are weapons used to attack people. The fact that they are "drawn" and "bent" means they are ready to start attacking. AT: "have prepared their weapons in order to attack" (See: Synecdoche)
to cast down
This destruction of the needy people is spoken of as if they were clay pots that would break into pieces when thrown down on the ground. AT: "to destroy" (See: Metaphor)
the oppressed and needy
These terms both refer to people who are powerless to defend themselves. AT: "people who are not able to resist them" (See: Doublet)
Their swords will pierce their own hearts
Swords are examples of weapons and "hearts" represent the people. To "pierce the heart" is an idiom that means "to kill." AT: "Their weapons will be turned against them and they will kill themselves" (See: Synecdoche and Idiom)
translationWords
evil
oppress
sword
heart
bow and arrow
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 37:14-15 The weapons of the wicked will turn against…
37:14-15 The weapons of the wicked will turn against them (cp. 7:12-13).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.