Rescue me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
Parallel Translations
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Rescue me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
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Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
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O my God, rescue me out of the hand of the wicked, out of the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Psalms 71:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 59:1-2 Deliver me from my enemies, my God. Set me on high from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity. Save me from the bloodthirsty men.
- Psalms 140:1-4 Deliver me, Yahweh, from the evil man. Preserve me from the violent man: those who devise mischief in their hearts. They continually gather themselves together for war. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Viper’s poison is under their lips. Yahweh, keep me from the hands of the wicked. Preserve me from the violent men who have determined to trip my feet.
- 2 Samuel 17:1-2 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight. I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and will make him afraid. All the people who are with him will flee. I will strike the king only,
- Psalms 17:8-9 Keep me as the apple of your eye. Hide me under the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who oppress me, my deadly enemies, who surround me.
- Psalms 17:13 Arise, Yahweh, confront him. Cast him down. Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword;
- 2 Samuel 16:21-22 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines that he has left to keep the house. Then all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.” So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
- 2 Samuel 17:12-14 So we will come on him in some place where he will be found, and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground, then we will not leave so much as one of him and of all the men who are with him. Moreover, if he has gone into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there isn’t one small stone found there.” Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom.
- 2 Samuel 17:21 After they had departed, they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said to David, “Arise and pass quickly over the water; for thus has Ahithophel counseled against you.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 4. O my God! deliver me from the hand…
4. O my God! deliver me from the hand of the wicked man. Here he uses the singular number; but he is not to be understood as indicating one man only. It is highly probable that he comprehends the whole host of the enemies who assaulted him. We have elsewhere had occasion to observe how greatly it contributes to inspire us with the confidence of obtaining our requests, when we are so assured of our own integrity, as to be able freely to complain before God that we are unjustly and wickedly assaulted by our enemies; for we ought not to doubt that God, who has promised to become the defender of those who are unjustly oppressed, will, in that case, undertake our cause.
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 That is, from Absalom, Ahithophel and that conspiracy.
That is, from Absalom, Ahithophel and that conspiracy.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 71:4 Deliver me, O my God, out of…
Psa 71:4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
Ver. 4. Out of the hand of the unrighteous] That seeketh by fraud to undermine me, and by force to overturn me.
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And cruel man] Qui totus in fermento iacet; sour as leaven, sharp as vinegar.
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand…
Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,.... Meaning Absalom his son, as Arama, who had risen up in rebellion against him; and he may not only intend him, but all those wicked men that had joined with him: it was David's mercy he had a covenant God to go to, and could claim his interest in him, who had power to deliver him, and from whom he might expect it;
out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man; or "leavened" (s); a sour ill natured man; one leavened with malice and wickedness: perhaps Ahithophel is intended. It may be applied to any wicked, lawless, and tyrannical persecutor of God's people; and particularly to the lawless and wicked one, the man of sin, the son of perdition, antichrist, Th2 2:4.
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(s) "malitiae fermento prorsus corrupti", Michaelis, "secundum", Gejerum & Gussetium; so Ainsworth.
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 4. Out of the hand of the wicked]…
Verse 4. Out of the hand of the wicked] Probably his unnatural son Absalom, called here רשע rasha, the WICKED, because he had violated all laws, human and Divine.
The unrighteous and cruel man.] Probably Ahithophel who was the iniquitous counsellor of a wicked and rebellious son.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand…
Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked - It is, of course, not possible now to ascertain who are particularly referred to here. If David was the author of the psalm, they may have been any of the numerous enemies that he had in his life.
Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man - Hebrew, “out of the palm.” This means here the same as hand, and refers to the “grasp” which anyone makes in taking hold of a thing by the hand.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. The unrighteous and cruel man—If this refers to…
4. The unrighteous and cruel man—If this refers to any one individual, and we have rightly judged the occasion of the psalm, the allusion might well be to Ahithophel. See our note on Psa_55:12. But it may be a general and abstract term for any and every man who is “unrighteous and cruel.”
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 4. Deliver me] R.V., rescue me, as in Psa_71:2.
4. Deliver me] R.V., rescue me, as in Psa_71:2.
the unrighteous and cruel man] Comp. the complaints in Habakkuk (Hab_1:2-4) and Jeremiah (Jer_6:7; &c.) of the prevailing injustice and violence. The singular is probably collective.
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4–8. The ground of the Psalmist’s appeal for deliverance.
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 (4-6) These verses are manifestly founded on Psa_31:8-10; but…
(4-6) These verses are manifestly founded on Psa_31:8-10; but the variations are more marked than usual, and indicate a definite purpose of adaptation rather than copying.
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 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand…
Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand (rather, grasp) of the unrighteous and cruel man. it is characteristic of David to single out from his adversaries an individual man, from whom he especially asks to be delivered. (comp. Psa_13:2 Psa_17:13 Psa_18:17, 48 35:8 41:6, 9, 11 55:13, 14, etc.)
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. 4. Deliver me, O my God, out of…
Ver. 4. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked. God is on the same side with us, and those who are our enemies are also his, for they are wicked; therefore will the Lord surely rescue his own confederates, and he will not suffer the evil to triumph over the just. He who addresses such a prayer as this to heaven, does more injury to his enemies than if he had turned a battery of Armstrongs upon them.
Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. Being wicked to God, they become unrighteous towards men, and cruel in their persecutions of the godly. Two hands are here mentioned: they grasp and they crush; they strike and they would slay if God did not prevent; had they as many hands as Briarcus, the finger of God would more than match them.
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Ver. 4. The cruel man is literally the leavened man, leavened with hatred of truth and enmity to God; and, therefore, a violent opposer of his people. So, in 1Co 5:8 we are cautioned against the "leaven of malice and wickedness, "which, in accordance with the figure, may pervade the whole natural character of an ungodly man, his faculties and affections. W. Wilson.
Ver. 4.
I. When God is for us, the wicked are against us.
II. When the wicked are against us, God is for us.
Psalms 71:5*
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 out of the hand of the wicked, out of…
out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous
Possible meanings are 1) the word "hand" is a metonym for power. AT: "from the power of the wicked, from the power of the unrighteous" or 2) "hand" refers to the person himself. AT: "from wicked people, from unrighteous ... people" or "so that wicked people and unrighteous ... people cannot harm me" (See: Metonymy)
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wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous
"wicked; rescue me out of the hand of the unrighteous." You can make clear the understood information. (See: Ellipsis)
wicked ... unrighteous ... cruel
These adjectives can be translated as noun phrases. AT: "wicked people ... unrighteous people ... cruel people" (See: Nominal Adjectives)
you are my hope
Here "hope" is a metonym for the one in whom the psalmist hopes. AT: "you are the one whom I confidently expect to help me" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
God
hand
evil
righteous
hope
Lord Yahweh
trust
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.