But God will shoot at them. They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow.
Parallel Translations
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But God will shoot at them. They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow.
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But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.
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(64-8) But God doth shoot at them with an arrow suddenly; thence are their wounds.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Psalms 64:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 7:12-13 If a man doesn’t repent, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent and strung his bow. He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death. He makes ready his flaming arrows.
- Proverbs 6:15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.
- Psalms 18:14 He sent out his arrows, and scattered them; Yes, great lightning bolts, and routed them.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they will in no way escape.
- Deuteronomy 32:23 “I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them.
- Deuteronomy 32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.”
- 1 Chronicles 10:3-7 The battle went hard against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was distressed by reason of the archers. Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me.” But his armor bearer would not; for he was terrified. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell on it. When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword, and died. So Saul died with his three sons; and all his house died together. When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.
- Job 6:4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
- Psalms 73:19 How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.
- Proverbs 29:1 He who is often rebuked and stiffens his neck will be destroyed suddenly, with no remedy.
- Isaiah 30:13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant.
- 1 Kings 22:34 A certain man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn your hand, and carry me out of the battle; for I am severely wounded.”
- Lamentations 3:12-13 He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. He has caused the shafts of his quiver to enter into my kidneys.
- Matthew 24:40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left.
- Matthew 24:50-51 the lord of that servant will come in a day when he doesn’t expect it, and in an hour when he doesn’t know it, and will cut him in pieces, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.
- 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 (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 7 And God shall shoot an arrow at them…
7 And God shall shoot an arrow at them The Psalmist now congratulates himself in the confident persuasion that his prayers have not been without effect, but already answered. Though there was no appearance of God’s approaching judgment, he declares that it would suddenly be executed; and in this he affords a remarkable proof of his faith. He saw the wicked hardening themselves in their prosperity, and presuming upon impunity from the divine connivance and forbearance; but instead of yielding to discouragement, he was borne up by the belief that God, according to his usual mode of procedure with the wicked, would visit them at an unexpected moment, when they were flattering themselves with having escaped, and indulging in extravagant confidence. It is a consideration which should comfort us, when subjected to long-continued trial, that God, in delaying to punish the ungodly, does so with the express design of afterwards inflicting judgments of a more condign description upon them, and when they shall say, “Peace and safety,” overwhelming them with sudden destruction, (Jeremiah 8:11 )
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 64:7 But God shall shoot at them [with]…
Psa 64:7 But God shall shoot at them [with] an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.
Ver. 7. But God shall shoot at them, &c.] He shall overshoot them in their own bow, pay them home in their own coin; he will deal with them lege talionis, for he loveth to retaliate, see Psa 64:4, they shall find that he can handle his arms a fair deal better against them than they did against David.
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With an arrow suddenly] As was Ahab, and the rich fool, Luk 12:16-21, while he sat pruning himself like a bird on a bough, death fetched him off suddenly by his shaft shot at him, and down be came tumbling. See 1Th 5:3.
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 God shall shoot at them; though I can neither…
God shall shoot at them; though I can neither search out or prevent their subtle devices, yet God can and will certainly do it.
Suddenly; shortly and unexpectedly.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain We may observe here,
We may observe here,
I. The judgments of God which should certainly come upon these malicious persecutors of David. Though they encouraged themselves in their wickedness, here is that which, if they would believe and consider it, was enough to discourage them. And it is observable how the punishment answers the sin. 1. They shot at David secretly and suddenly, to wound him; but God shall shoot at them, for the ordains his arrows against the persecutors (Psa 7:13), against the face of them, Psa 21:12. And God's arrows will hit surer, and fly swifter, and pierce deeper, than theirs do or can. They have many arrows, but they are only bitter words, and words are but wind: the curse causeless shall not come. But God has one arrow that will be their death, his curse which is never causeless, and therefore shall come; with it they shall be suddenly wounded, that is, their wound by it will be a surprise upon them, because they were secure and not apprehensive of any danger. 2. Their tongues fell upon him, but God shall make their tongues to fall upon themselves. They do it by the desert of their sin; God does it by the justice of his wrath, Psa 64:8. When God deals with men according to the desert of their tongue-sins, and brings those mischiefs upon them which they have passionately and maliciously imprecated upon others, then he makes their own tongues to fall upon them; and it is weight enough to sink a man to the lowest hell, like a talent of lead. Many have cut their own throats, and many more have damned their own souls, with their tongues, and it will be an aggravation of their condemnation. O Israel! thou hast destroyed thyself, art snared in the words of thy mouth. If thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it. Those that love cursing, it shall come unto them. Sometimes men's secret wickedness is brought to light by their own confession, and then their own tongue falls upon them.
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II. The influence which these judgments should have upon others; for it is done in the open sight of all, Job 34:26.
1. Their neighbours shall shun them and shift for their own safety. They shall flee away, as the men of Israel did from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Num 16:27. Some think this was fulfilled in the death of Saul, when not only his army was dispersed, but the inhabitants of the neighbouring country were so terrified with the fall, not only of their king but of his three sons, that they quitted their cities and fled, Sa1 31:7.
2. Spectators shall reverence the providence of God therein, Psa 64:9. (1.) They shall understand and observe God's hand in all (and, unless we do so, we are not likely to profit by the dispensations of Providence, Hos 14:9): They shall wisely consider his doing. There is need of consideration and serious thought rightly to apprehend the matter of fact, and need of wisdom to put a true interpretation upon it. God's doing is well worth our considering (Ecc 7:13), but it must be considered wisely, that we put not a corrupt gloss upon a pure text. (2.) They shall be affected with a holy awe of God upon the consideration of it. All men (all that have any thing of the reason of a man in them) shall fear and tremble because of God's judgments, Psa 119:120. They shall fear to do the like, fear being found persecutors of God's people. Smite the scorner and the simple shall beware. (3.) They shall declare the work of God. They shall speak to one another and to all about them of the justice of God in punishing persecutors. What we wisely consider ourselves we should wisely declare to others, for their edification and the glory of God. This is the finger of God.
3. Good people shall in a special manner take notice of it, and it shall affect them with a holy pleasure, Psa 64:10. (1.) It shall increase their joy: The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, not glad of the misery and ruin of their fellow-creatures, but glad that God is glorified, and his word fulfilled, and the cause of injured innocency pleaded effectually. (2.) It shall encourage their faith. They shall commit themselves to him in the way of duty and be willing to venture for him with an entire confidence in him. (3.) Their joy and faith shall both express themselves in a holy boasting: All the upright in heart, that keep a good conscience and approve themselves to God, shall glory, not in themselves, but in the favour of God, in his righteousness and goodness, their relation to him and interest in him. Let him that glories glory in the Lord.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But God shall shoot at them with an arrow,....…
But God shall shoot at them with an arrow,.... With one or other of his four judgments; famine, pestilence, sword, and wild beasts, Eze 14:21; which he brings upon wicked men; and may be compared to arrows, as they are, Eze 5:16; because they move swiftly. The judgment of wicked men lingereth not, though it may seem to do so; and because they often come suddenly and at an unawares, when men are crying Peace, peace; and because they are sharp and piercing, penetrate deep and stick fast, and wound and kill; they are not arrows of deliverance, unless to the Lord's people, who, by his judgments on the wicked, are delivered from them; but destroying ones, Kg2 13:17; when God draws the bow and shoots, execution is done. This is said in opposition to what wicked men do, Psa 64:3; and in just retaliation; they shoot at the perfect, and God shoots at them;
suddenly shall they be wounded; with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, with a deadly wound that shall never be healed; not with the arrow of God's word, but with the stroke of his hand; which comes suddenly, falls heavy, and makes the wound incurable.
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 7. But God shall shoot at them with…
Verse 7. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow] They endeavour to trace me out, that they may shoot me; but God will shoot at them. This, if the Psalm refer to the times of David, seems to be prophetic of Saul's death. The archers pressed upon him, and sorely wounded him with their arrows. 1Sa 31:3.
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 64:7. But God shall shoot at them —…
Psa 64:7. But God shall shoot at them — Though I can neither search out nor prevent their subtle devices, yet God can, and will certainly do it, for he ordains his arrows against persecutors, Psa 7:13, and his arrows will hit more surely, and fly more swiftly, and pierce more deeply than theirs do or can. They have many arrows, but they are only words, though bitter, and the curse causeless shall not come: but God has one arrow that will be their destruction; his curse, which is never causeless, and therefore shall come. Suddenly shall they be wounded — That is, their wound by it will be a surprise upon them, because they were secure, and not apprehensive of any danger.
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 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow…
But God shall shoot at them with an arrow - That is, Instead of their being able to carry out their purposes of shooting the arrows which they had prepared against others, God will shoot his arrows against them. The tables will be turned. They themselves will experience what they had intended to inflict on others. God will deal with them as they intended to deal with others. The sentiment here is substantially the same as in Psa 7:15; see the notes at that passage. It is also in accordance with what we often find in the writings of David, when in the close of a psalm he expresses a confident expectation that the prayer which he had offered in the beginning would be heard, or rejoices in the assurance that he had been heard. The idea, also, is involved in this part of the psalm that God will deal with men as they purpose to deal with others; that is, according to their true character. Compare the notes at Psa 18:25-26.
Suddenly shall they be wounded - Margin, their wound shall be. The Hebrew is, “Suddenly shall be their wounds.” The idea is, that the wounds in the case would be theirs; and would be inflicted suddenly. The blows which they thought to give to others would come on themselves, and this would occur at an unexpected moment.
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 The contrast is heightened by representing God as using…
The contrast is heightened by representing God as using weapons like theirs.
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. But God shall shoot at them with an…
7. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow—Both the verbs in the two lines of this verse are in the past tense, and though the Hebrew gives an ambiguous idea as to interpunction, yet we should read:—
But God hath shot at them an arrow,
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Suddenly have come their wounds.
Thus, when they had completed their deep schemes—when they had bent their bow to shoot in secret at the upright,—(Psa_64:3-4,) in a moment, by the unseen arrow of God, they received their own death wound. See Psa_7:12; Psa_38:2
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. Therefore God shoots at them with an arrow;
7. Therefore God shoots at them with an arrow;
Suddenly are they smitten.
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The peculiar idiom of the Heb. in this and the following verses conveys the idea that this judgement is the immediate consequence of their conduct, and though still future, is as certain as though it were already historical fact. Lit. So God hath shot … they have been wounded … and they have been made to stumble … and all men have feared, and they have declared … and understood &c.: Note the parallelism of this verse to Psa_64:4, They aim their arrows at the righteous, unseen, as they fancy, by man, and unregarded by God; but swift retribution overtakes them unawares. Cp. Psa_7:12 ff. R.V. follows the Massoretic accents in attaching with an arrow to the second line; but the balance of the clauses is in favour of dividing the verses as A.V. does, and the parallel with Psa_64:4 is more striking if ‘suddenly’ occupies the same emphatic position at the beginning of the second line as there. Note how their punishment is described in terms of their crime (Psa_64:4-5).
7–10. They may scheme, but in the midst of their schemes the arrow of divine judgement pierces them: by this exhibition of God’s justice all men are warned, and the righteous are encouraged.
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, 8) The meaning of these verses is clear.…
(7, 8) The meaning of these verses is clear. In the moment of their imagined success, their deeply-laid schemes just on the point of ripening, a sudden Divine retribution overtakes the wicked, and all their calumnies, invented with such cunning, fall back on their own heads. But the construction is most perplexing. The text presents a tangled maze of abrupt clauses, which, arranged according to the accents, run: And God shoots an arrow, sudden are their wounds, and they make it (or him) fall on themselves their tongue. The last clause seems to pronounce the law which obtains in Divine judgment. While God orders the retribution it is yet the recoil of their own evil on the guilty. In these cases,
“We still have judgment here, that we but teach
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Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return
To plague the inventor; this evenhanded justice
Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice
To our own lips.”
SHAKSPEARE: Macbeth.
Flee away.—The verb (nâdad) properly means to flutter the wings like a bird (Isa_10:14).
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 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow.…
But God shall shoot at them with an arrow. But God will interpose. As they have shot with their arrows at the righteous (ver. 3), so with his arrow shall God shoot at them. Suddenly shall they be wounded. The first word, "suddenly," may belong equally well either to the preceding or to the following clause. The result is all that is important. Not the righteous, but they themselves, shall receive the wound; literally, their wound shall be.
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. But God shall shoot at them with…
Ver. 7. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow. They shot, and shall be shot. A greater archer than they are shall take sure aim at their hearts. One of his arrows shall be enough, for he never misses his aim. The Lord turns the tables on his adversaries, and defeats them at their own weapons.
Suddenly shall they be wounded. They were looking to surprise the saint, but, lo! they are taken at unawares themselves; they desired to inflict deadly wounds, and are smitten themselves with wounds which none can heal. While they were bending their bows, the great Lord had prepared his bow already, and he let slip the shaft when least they looked for such an unsparing messenger of justice. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." The righteous need not learn the arts of self defence or of attack, their avenging is in better hands than their own.
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Ver. 7. With an arrow suddenly. As was Ahab, and the rich fool (Luke 16): while he sat pruning himself like a bird on a bough, death fetched him off suddenly by his shaft, shot at him, and down he came tumbling. See 1Th 5:3. John Trapp.
None.
Psalms 64:8*
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 General Information:
General Information:
The writer continues to speak of the "evildoers" of Psalms 64:01.
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But God will shoot them ... with his arrows
The writer speaks of God's punishment of the evildoers as if God were shooting arrows at them. (See: Metaphor)
They will be made to stumble
The writer speaks of God's causing the evildoers' plans to fail as if God were making them stumble in their paths. This can be stated in active form. AT: "God will make them stumble" or "God will cause their plans to fail" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)
since their own tongues are against them
Here "tongues" represents the words that they say. AT: "since the words that they say are against them" (See: Metonymy)
what he has done
"what God has done"
translationWords
bow and arrow
stumble
fear
declare
works
wise
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 64:7-10 What God does is righteous. God undoes what…
64:7-10 What God does is righteous. God undoes what is wicked and pays the wicked back with what they planned for others.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.