You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.
Parallel Translations
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You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.
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Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
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(44-15) Thou makest us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Psalms 44:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 24:9 I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I will drive them.
- Deuteronomy 28:37 You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away.
- 2 Kings 19:21 This is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
- Job 16:4 I also could speak as you do. If your soul were in my soul’s place, I could join words together against you, and shake my head at you,
- Job 17:6 “But he has made me a byword of the people. They spit in my face.
- Lamentations 2:15-17 All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men called ‘The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’?” All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have swallowed her up. Certainly this is the day that we looked for. We have found it. We have seen it.” Yahweh has done that which he planned. He has fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old. He has thrown down, and has not pitied. He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you. He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.
- 1 Kings 9:7 then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight; and Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
- 2 Chronicles 7:20 then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
- Psalms 22:7 All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,
- Psalms 109:25 I have also become a reproach to them. When they see me, they shake their head.
- Isaiah 37:22 this is the word which Yahweh has spoken concerning him. The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 44:14 Thou makest us a byword among the…
Psa 44:14 Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
Ver. 14. Thou makest us a byword among the heathen] Who use to say, As base as a Jew, as wretched as an Israelite, &c. The Turks at this day say, Iudaeus sim si fallam, If I be not as good as my word, count me a very Jew. We use to say, As hard hearted as a Jew. Thus is fulfilled that which was threatened Deu 28:37 1Ki 9:7 Jer 24:9.
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 A by-word, or a proverb. They used to say…
A by-word, or a proverb. They used to say proverbially, More despicable or miserable than an Israelite.
A shaking of the head; a gesture of scorn and insultation. See Poole "Psa 22:7".
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 Thou makest us a byword among the Heathen,.... Among…
Thou makest us a byword among the Heathen,.... Among the Papists, as the Jews were among the Gentiles, Deu 28:37; calling them schismatics, heretics, fanatics, and what not?
a shaking of the head among the people; by way of indignation, scorn, and contempt; see Psa 22:7.
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. Thou makest us a byword] We are…
Verse 14. Thou makest us a byword] We are evidently abandoned by thee, and are become so very miserable in consequence, that we are a proverb among the people: "See the Hebrews! see their misery and wretchedness! see how low the wrath of God has brought down an offending people!" And the worst curse that can be imprecated against a wicked nation is: "Mayest thou become as wretched as the Jews;" or as the old Psalter: "Thou has seet us reprove til our neghburs: scornyng and hethyng til tha that er in our umgang. That es, gref, tourment that es of our neghburs, and that hethyng es noght sone gave or passand, that we suffer of tha, that er al aboute us. When men sais so byfal ye, als byfel him."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Thou makest us a byword among heathen - The…
Thou makest us a byword among heathen - The word rendered “by-word” - משׁל mâshâl - means properly a similitude or parable; then, a sententious saying, and apophthegm; then, a proverb; then, a song or verse, particularly a satirical song, or a song of derision. The idea here is, that they were made a proverb, or were referred to as a striking instance of the divine abandonment, or as something marked to which the nations might and did refer as an example of calamity, judgment, misfortune, failure; a warning to all. See Deu 28:37.
A shaking of the head among the people - An occasion for the shaking of the head, in derision and scorn. Compare the notes at Psa 22:7.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 14. the heathen … the people] Render with R.V.,…
14. the heathen … the people] Render with R.V., the nations … the peoples. They point to our fate as a proverbial instance of a people abandoned by its God, and make us the subject of taunting songs: they shake their heads at us in derision. Cp. Deu_28:37; 1Ki_9:7; Jer_24:9; Joe_2:17 (R.V. marg.); Psa_22:7; and generally Lam_2:15 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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (14) Shaking of the head.—Comp. Psa_22:7.
(14) Shaking of the head.—Comp. Psa_22:7.
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 Thou makest us a byword among the heathen. (comp.…
Thou makest us a byword among the heathen. (comp. Job_17:6 Jer_24:9) A shaking of the head among the people; rather, among the peoples. (comp. Psa_22:7)
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. Thou makest us a byword among the…
Ver. 14. Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people. The lamentation is here repeated. They had sunk so low that none did them reverence, but universally and publicly they were treated as infamous and despicable. Those who reviled others dragged in Israel's name by the way as a garnish to their insults, and if perchance they saw one of the seed of Jacob in the street they used lewd gestures to annoy him. Those whose heads were emptiest wagged them at the separated people. They were the common butts of every fool's arrow. Such has been the lot of the righteous in ages past, such is their portion in a measure now, such may be yet again their heritage in the worst sense. The world knows not its nobility, it has no eye for true excellence: it found a cross for the Master, and cannot be expected to award crowns to his disciples.
Ver. 14. Thou makest us a byword; literally, for a similitude, (lvm) stands here, as in the original passage De 28:37, in the common signification, similitude. The misery of Israel is so great, that people would figuratively call a miserable man a Jew, just as liars were called Cretans; wretched slaves, Sardians. So far as the people from being now "blessed of the Lord" in whom according to the promise, all the heathen are to be blessed. E. W. Hengstenberg.
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Ver. 14. Unholy proverbs or godless bywords.
Psalms 44:15*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.