If a man doesn’t repent, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent and strung his bow.
Parallel Translations
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If a man doesn’t repent, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent and strung his bow.
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If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
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(7-13) If a man turn not, He will whet His sword, He hath bent His bow, and made it ready;
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Psalms 7:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,
- Matthew 3:10 “Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.
- Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek Yahweh while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him, to our God, for he will freely pardon.
- Deuteronomy 32:41 if I sharpen my glittering sword, my hand grasps it in judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me.
- Psalms 85:4 Turn us, God of our salvation, and cause your indignation toward us to cease.
- Ezekiel 18:30 “Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity will not be your ruin.
- Isaiah 27:1 In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.
- Isaiah 34:5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the sky. Behold, it will come down on Edom, and on the people of my curse, for judgment.
- Jeremiah 31:18-19 “I have surely heard Ephraim grieving thus, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf. Turn me, and I will be turned; for you are Yahweh my God. Surely after that I was turned. I repented. After that I was instructed. I struck my thigh. I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
- Ezekiel 21:9-11 “Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘Yahweh says: “A sword! A sword! It is sharpened, and also polished. It is sharpened that it may make a slaughter. It is polished that it may be as lightning. Should we then make mirth? The rod of my son condemns every tree. It is given to be polished, that it may be handled. The sword is sharpened. Yes, it is polished to give it into the hand of the killer.” ’
- Ezekiel 21:23 It will be to them as a false divination in their sight, who have sworn oaths to them; but he brings iniquity to memory, that they may be taken.
- Ezekiel 33:11 Tell them, ‘ “As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why will you die, house of Israel?” ’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 12 If he turn not These verses are usually…
12 If he turn not These verses are usually explained in two ways. The meaning is, that if David’s enemies should persevere in their malicious designs against him, there is denounced against them the vengeance which their obstinate wickedness deserves. Accordingly, in the second clause, they supply the name of God,—If he turn not, GOD will whet his sword; This is the view adopted by Hengstenberg in his excellent Commentary on The Psalms. “The apparently coarse manner of expression in our text,” says he, “representing God as a warrior equipped with sword and bow, has besides for its foundation the coarseness of sinners, and the weakness of faith on the part of believers, which does not direct itself against the visible danger with pure thoughts of God’s controllable agency, but seeks to clothe those thoughts with flesh and blood, and regards the judge as standing over against the sinner, man against man, sword against sword.”
“Ne cesse de me poursuyvre.” — Fr. “Do not cease from pursuing me.”
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“Duquel il avoit este delivre par luy.” — Fr.
“Au reste, quand il est yci parle de se retourner, ce n’est pas pour signifier ce que nous appelons repentance et amendement en son ennemi, mais tant seulement une volonte et deliberation diverse; comme si’il dit qu’il estoit en la puissance de l’ennemi de parfaire tout ce qui luy venoit en la fantasie.” — Fr.
Those who adopt this rendering, support it from the reading of the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Syriac versions, although the Chaldee version reads persecuting; and they generally view the 12th and 13th verses as a representation of God under the image of a warrior ready to shoot his flaming, burning, fiery arrows, against the object to which he is opposed.” I read וצלקים urentes, inflammatos; the arrows of the Almighty, (Deuteronomy 32:24.) Languishments of famine, the burnings of the carbuncle, and the bitter pestilence. Schultens, (Proverbs 26:23.) Lightnings are also called God’s arrows, (Psalm 18:15,) and represented as the artillery of heaven.”—Dr Kennicott’s note on this place in his Select Passages of the Old Testament. Hengstenberg takes the same view. His rendering is, He [that is, God] makes his arrows burning. “רלק, to burn. In sieges it is customary to wrap round the arrows burning matter, and to shoot them after being kindled.”
“La ou nous avons mis Persecuteurs aucuns le rapportans aux fleches, traduissent Ardentes; pource que le mot Hebrieu emporte aussl ceste signification.”—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 Except Saul turn his mind, I die: for he…
Except Saul turn his mind, I die: for he hath both men and weapons to destroy me. Thus considering his great danger, he magnifieth God’s grace.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 7:12 If he turn not, he will whet…
Psa 7:12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
Ver. 12. If he turn not] sc. Impius ab impietate sua, saith R. Solomon, If the wicked turn not from his wickedness, by true and timely repentance.
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He will whet his sword, he hath bent his bow] i.e. God will, God hath; and mark that he whets before he strikes, and is bending his bow, setting his arrows, preparing his instruments of death; all which must needs take up some time, and so give fair warning to these foul sinners if they have grace to make use of it. See the like Deu 32:41-42. God first whets his sword before he devours flesh, and first takes hold on judgment before his judgment take hold of men. But if this be not observed and improved, Patientia Dei quo diuturnior, eo est minacior; and what shall wicked men plead for themselves when God shall say to them, as Reuben once did to his brethren, Gen 42:22, Did not I warn you, saying, Sin not?
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 If he, i.e. the wicked man last mentioned, either…
If he, i.e. the wicked man last mentioned, either Cush or Saul, turn not from this wicked course of calumnating or persecuting me, he, i.e. God, who is often designed by this pronoun, being easily to be understood from the nature of the thing,
will whet his sword, i.e. will prepare, and hasten, and speedily execute his judgments upon him. Did I say, he will do it? nay,
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he hath already done it; his sword is drawn, his bow is bent, and the arrows are prepared and ready to be shot.
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 If he turn not,.... Not God, but the enemy,…
If he turn not,.... Not God, but the enemy, or the wicked man, spoken of Psa 7:5; if he turn not from his wicked course of life, to the Lord to live to him, and according to his will; unless he is converted and repents of his sin, and there is a change wrought in him, in his heart and life; the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, "if ye turn not", or "are not converted", an apostrophe to the wicked;
he will whet his sword: God is a man of war, and he is sometimes represented as accoutred with military weapons; see Isa 59:17; and among the rest with the sword of judgment, which he may be said to whet, when he prepares sharp and sore judgments for his enemies, Isa 27:1;
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he hath bent his bow, and made it ready; drawn his bow of vengeance, and put it on the full stretch, and made it ready with the arrows of his wrath, levelled against the wicked, with whom he is angry; which is expressive of their speedy and inevitable ruin, in case of impenitence; see Lam 2:4; or "trod his bow", as is the usual phrase elsewhere; see Psa 11:2; which was done by the feet, and was necessary when the bow was a strong one, as Jarchi on Psa 11:2; observes; and so the Arabs, as Suidas (g) relates, using arrows the length of a man, put their feet on the string of the bow instead of their hands.
(g) In voce
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 He will - God will hasten, and speedily execute…
He will - God will hasten, and speedily execute his judgments upon him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 12. If he turn not] This clause the…
Verse 12. If he turn not] This clause the Syriac adds to the preceding verse. Most of the versions read, "If ye return not." Some contend, and not without a great show of probability, that the two verses should be read in connection, thus: "God is a just Judge; a God who is provoked every day. If (the sinner) turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready." This, no doubt, gives the sense of both.
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 7:12-13. If he — The wicked man last…
Psa 7:12-13. If he — The wicked man last mentioned; turn not — From his wicked course; he — God; will whet his sword — Will prepare, and hasten, and speedily execute his judgments upon him. He hath bent his bow — Did I say, He will do it? nay, he hath already done it; his sword is drawn, his bow is bent, and the arrows are prepared and ready to be shot. The wrath of God may be slow, but it is always sure, and the sinner who is not converted by the vengeance inflicted on others, will himself, at length, be made an example of vengeance to others. He hath prepared for him — For the wicked; the instruments of death — That is, deadly weapons. He ordaineth — Designs or fits for this very use; his arrows against the persecutors — Of all sinners, persecutors are set up as the fairest marks of divine wrath. They set God at defiance, but cannot set themselves out of the reach of his judgments.
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 If he turn not - If the wicked person…
If he turn not - If the wicked person does not repent. in the previous verse the psalmist had said that God is angry with the wicked every day; he here states what must be the consequence to the wicked if they persevere in the course which they are pursuing; that is, if they do not repent. God, he says, cannot be indifferent to the course which they pursue, but he is preparing for them the instruments of punishment, and he will certainly bring destruction upon them. It is implied here that if they would repent and turn they would avoid this, and would be saved: a doctrine which is everywhere stated in the Scriptures.
He will whet his sword - He will sharpen his sword preparatory to inflicting punishment. That is, God will do this. Some, however, have supposed that this refers to the wicked person - the enemy of David - meaning that if he did not turn; if he was not arrested; if he was suffered to go on as he intended, he would whet his sword, and bend his bow, etc.; that is, that he would go on to execute his purposes against the righteous. See Rosenmuller in loc. But the most natural construction is to refer it to God, as meaning that if the sinner did not repent, He would inflict on him deserved punishment. The “sword” is an instrument of punishment (compare Rom 13:4); and to “whet” or sharpen it, is merely a phrase denoting that he would prepare to execute punishment. See Deu 32:41.
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He hath bent his bow - The bow, like the sword, was used in battle as a means of destroying an enemy. It is used here of God, who is represented as going forth to destroy or punish his foes. The language is derived from the customs of war. Compare Exo 15:3; Isa 63:1-4. The Hebrew here is,” his bow he has trodden,” alluding to the ancient mode of bending the large and heavy bows used in war, by treading on them in order to bend them.
And made it ready - Made it ready to shoot the arrow. That is, He is ready to execute punishment on the wicked; or, all the preparations are made for it.
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 They are here distinctly pointed out, though by changing…
They are here distinctly pointed out, though by changing the person, a very common mode of speech, one is selected as a representative of wicked men generally. The military figures are of obvious meaning.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. If a man turn not from his evil…
12. If a man turn not from his evil way and repent, God ‘will whet his sword:’ nay, He has already strung His bow and made it ready to discharge the arrow of punishment. God is described under the figure of a warrior, armed with sword and bow to execute vengeance on the wicked. Cp. Deu_32:41-42. The tenses of the first clause represent the judgement as in process of preparation from time to time; those of the second clause as ready to be launched against the offender at any moment. The wicked aim their arrows at the upright in heart (Psa_11:2), but ‘the saviour of the upright in heart’ aims His arrows at them and frustrates their plots.
R.V. marg. Surely he will again whet his sword is a possible but less satisfactory rendering. Psa_7:12-13 may then be referred either to God, or to the enemy intending to renew his attack.
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 (12) If he turn not.—The Hebrew is doubly idiomatic.…
(12) If he turn not.—The Hebrew is doubly idiomatic. Translate surely (see Heb_3:11, with Note in New Testament Commentary), He will again whet His sword. It is true that the verb to turn in the sense of repetition usually precedes the other verb immediately, without, as here, any other words intervening.
Bent.—Literally, trodden, showing that the foot was used by the Israelites to bend the bow, as by archers now. (Smith’s Bible Dictionary, “Arms.”)
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 If he turn not, he (i.e. God) will whet…
If he turn not, he (i.e. God) will whet his sword. (comp. Deu_32:41 Isa_27:1 Isa_34:5) "Every new transgression," says Bishop Horne, "sets a fresh edge to God"s sword" He hath bent his bow, and made it ready; rather, he hath bent his bow, and fixed it; i.e. held it in the position for taking aim.
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. 12. If he turn not, he will whet…
Ver. 12. If he turn not, he will whet his sword. What blows are those which will be dealt by that long uplifted arm! God's sword has been sharpening upon the revolving stone of our daily wickedness, and if we will not repent, it will speedily cut us in pieces. Turn or burn is the sinner's only alternative. He hath bent his bow and made it ready.
Ver. 11-12. God hath set up his royal standard in defiance of all the sons and daughters of apostate Adam, who from his own mouth are proclaimed rebels and traitors to his crown and dignity; and as against such he hath taken the field, as with fire and sword, to be avenged on them. Yea, he gives the world sufficient testimony of his incensed wrath, by that of it which is revealed from heaven daily in the judgments executed upon sinners, and those many but of a span long, before they can show what nature they have by actual sin, yet crushed to death by God's righteous foot, only for the viperous kind of which they come. At every door where sin sets its foot, there the wrath of God meets us. Every faculty of soul, and member of body, are used as a weapon of unrighteousness against God; so every one hath its portion of wrath, even to the tip of the tongue. As man is sinful all over, so is he cursed all over. Inside and outside, soul and body, is written all with woes and curses, so close and full, that there is not room for another to interline, or add to what God hath written. William Gurnall.
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Ver. 11-13. The idea of God's righteousness must have possessed great vigour to render such a representation possible. There are some excellent remarks upon the ground of it in Luther, who, however, too much overlooks the fact, that the psalmist presents before his eyes this form of an angry and avenging God, primarily with the view of strengthening by its consideration his own hope, and pays too little regard to the distinction between the psalmist, who only indirectly teaches what he described as part of his own inward experience, and the prophet: "The prophet takes a lesson from a coarse human similitude, in order that he might inspire terror unto the ungodly. For he speaks against stupid and hardened people, who would not apprehend the reality of a divine judgment, of which he had just spoken; but they might possibly be brought to consider this by greater earnestness on the part of man. Now, the prophet is not satisfied with thinking of the sword, but adds thereto the bow; even this does not satisfy him, but he describes how it is already stretched, and aim is taken, and the arrows are applied to it as here follows. So hard, stiff-necked and unabashed are the ungodly, that however many threatenings may be urged against them, they will still remain unmoved. But in these words he forcibly describes how God's anger presses hard upon the ungodly, though they will never understand this until they actually experience it. It is also to be remarked here, that we have had so frightful a threatening and indignation against the ungodly in no Psalm before this; neither has the Spirit of God attacked them with so many words. Then in the following verses, he also recounts their plans and purposes, shows how these shall not be in vain, but shall return again upon their own head. So that it clearly and manifestly appears that to all those who suffer wrong and reproach, as a matter of consolation, that God hates such revilers and slanderers above all other characters. E. W. Hengstenberg, in loc., 1845.
Ver. 12. If he turn not, etc. How few do believe what a quarrel God hath with wicked men? And that not only with the loose, but the formal and hypocritical also? If we did we would tremble as much to be among them as to be in a house that is falling; we would endeavour to "save" ourselves "from this untoward generation." The apostle would not so have adjured them, so charged, so entreated them, had he not known the danger of wicked company. "God is angry with the wicked every day;" his bow is bent, the arrows are on the string; the instruments for their ruin are all prepared. And is it safe to be there where the arrows of God are ready to fly about our ears? How was the apostle afraid to be in the bath with Cerinthus! "Depart," saith God by Moses, "from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, lest ye be consumed in all their sins." How have the baskets of good figs suffered with the bad! Is it not prejudicial to the gold to be with the dross? Lot had been ruined by his neighbourhood to the Sodomites if God had not wrought wonderfully for his deliverance. Will you put God to work miracles to save you from your ungodly company? It is dangerous being in the road with thieves whilst God's hue and cry of vengeance is at their backs. "A companion of fools shall be destroyed." The very beasts may instruct you to consult better for your security: the very deer are afraid of a wounded chased deer, and therefore for their preservation thrust him out of their company. Lewis Stuckley.
Ver. 12. If he turn not, he will whet his sword, etc. The whetting of the sword is but to give a keener edge that it may cut the deeper. God is silent as long as the sinner will let him; but when the sword is whet, it is to cut; and when the bow is bent, it is to kill; and woe be to that man who is the butt. William Secker.
Ver. 12. See "Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 106. "Turn or Burn."
Ver. 13. Even now the thirsty arrow longs to wet itself with the blood of the persecutor. The bow is bent, the aim is taken, the arrow is fitted to the string, and what, O sinner, if the arrow should be let fly at thee even now! Remember, God's arrows never miss the mark, and are, every one of them, "instruments of death." Judgment may tarry, but it will not come too late. The Greek proverb saith, "The mill of God grinds late, but grinds to powder."
Ver. 11-13. The idea of God's righteousness must have possessed great vigour to render such a representation possible. There are some excellent remarks upon the ground of it in Luther, who, however, too much overlooks the fact, that the psalmist presents before his eyes this form of an angry and avenging God, primarily with the view of strengthening by its consideration his own hope, and pays too little regard to the distinction between the psalmist, who only indirectly teaches what he described as part of his own inward experience, and the prophet: "The prophet takes a lesson from a coarse human similitude, in order that he might inspire terror unto the ungodly. For he speaks against stupid and hardened people, who would not apprehend the reality of a divine judgment, of which he had just spoken; but they might possibly be brought to consider this by greater earnestness on the part of man. Now, the prophet is not satisfied with thinking of the sword, but adds thereto the bow; even this does not satisfy him, but he describes how it is already stretched, and aim is taken, and the arrows are applied to it as here follows. So hard, stiff-necked and unabashed are the ungodly, that however many threatenings may be urged against them, they will still remain unmoved. But in these words he forcibly describes how God's anger presses hard upon the ungodly, though they will never understand this until they actually experience it. It is also to be remarked here, that we have had so frightful a threatening and indignation against the ungodly in no Psalm before this; neither has the Spirit of God attacked them with so many words. Then in the following verses, he also recounts their plans and purposes, shows how these shall not be in vain, but shall return again upon their own head. So that it clearly and manifestly appears that to all those who suffer wrong and reproach, as a matter of consolation, that God hates such revilers and slanderers above all other characters. E. W. Hengstenberg, in loc., 1845.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain If he turn not, He will whet His sword;…
Psa_7:12
If he turn not, He will whet His sword; He hath bent His bow, and made it ready.
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Turn or burn
So, then, God has a sword, and He will punish man on account of iniquity. This evil generation hath sought to take away from God the sword of His justice. Perhaps the Puritans insisted too much on the wrath of God, but our age seeks to forget that wrath altogether.
I. What is the turning here meant?
1. It is actual, not fictitious; not one that stops with vows and promises.
2. It must be entire. Many will give up many sins, but not all: there are certain darling lusts which they will keep and hold. Remember that one lust, like one leak in a ship, will sink a soul.
3. And it must be immediate. There must be no procrastination. Today if ye will hear His voice.
4. And hearty--no pretended repentance.
5. And perpetual: it must not be transitory or superficial. In old times when rich and generous monarchs came to their cities they made the fountains run with wine. But tomorrow it ran with water as before. It is hard to distinguish between legal repentance and evangelical repentance. Legal repentance is a fear of damning; evangelical, of sinning. And this is far deeper than the other: the man feels that only by sovereign grace can his sin be put away, that no mere course of holy living can blot it out. Christ alone can dig its grave.
II. The necessity that God should whet His sword and punish men if they will not turn. Richard Baxter used to say, Sinner! turn or burn: it is thine only alternative. And it is so: for--
1. God cannot suffer sin to go unpunished. How could He govern men if He had no justice?
2. The Scriptures are full of declarations of this truth.
3. All which conscience confirms. You may say you have no such belief. I did not say you had, but I say that your conscience tells you so. As John Bunyan said, Mr. Conscience had a very loud voice, and though Mr. Understanding shut himself up in a dark room, where he could not see, yet he used to thunder out so mightily in the streets that Mr. Understanding used to shake in his house through what Mr. Conscience said. But I am tired of this terrible work of proving that God must punish sin. However, I should like to act as if there were a hell, even if there is no such place; for as a poor and pious man once said to an unbeliever, Sir, I like to have two strings to my bow. If there should be no hell, I shall be as well off as you will; but if there should, it will go hard with you. But why say if? You know there is.
III. Now what are the means of repentance? You cannot repent of yourself. But Christ is exalted to give repentance and remission of sin. Then if you feel that you are a sinner, ask Him to give you repentance. Many a man says he cannot repent while he is repenting. Keep on with that till you feel you have repented, then believe and be saved. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Divine anger an everlasting principle
Polarity, as it is called, exhibits both attraction and repulsion, and at the same pole attraction and repulsion, and by the same law, at the same pole, attraction and repulsion. At the same pole the magnet attracts and repels. And Divine benevolence has polarity. At the same pole it attracts and repels. By the same law it attracts and repels. By the same eternal, Divine necessity it attracts and repels. With the same Divine force it attracts and repels. Its attraction is love, its repulsion is wrath; but wrath is love turned round, and both wrath and love are the opposing poles of that one attribute. Hence it is the more to be regretted, and the more to be lamented, that so many ministers of Christ, not to say members of the Church of God, have wrong conceptions of the wrath of God. Watts was wrong when he made the Psalm to say of God--
Whose anger is so slow to rise,
So ready to abate.
The fact is, Gods anger never rises, and it never abates. It is always at flood tide, at the flood mark; and that is the mark of infinite perfection. It does not go up and down, like the impulsive, impetuous, and capricious passions of men. It is an everlasting principle, not a passion at all--an everlasting principle--eternal love of righteousness, eternal detestation of unrighteousness. (A. F. Pierson.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 God will sharpen his sword and will prepare his…
God will sharpen his sword and will prepare his bow for battle
In verses 12 and 13, David speaks of God deciding to punish the wicked as if God were a warrior preparing to fight against them with weapons. AT: "God will take action against him like a warrior who sharpens his sword and prepares his bow for battle" (See: Metaphor)
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translationWords
repent
sword
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 7:12-13 sword . . . bow . . .…
7:12-13 sword . . . bow . . . deadly weapons . . . flaming arrows: As the Divine Warrior, God goes on the offensive on behalf of himself and his people.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.