Back to Psalms 74

Psalms 74:19

Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever.

  • KJV King James Version

    O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    O deliver not the soul of Thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast; forget not the life of Thy poor for ever.

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Cross-references (11)

Passages linked to Psalms 74:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • Song of Solomon 2:14 My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places of the mountainside, let me see your face. let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.
  • James 2:5-6 Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts?
  • Psalms 9:18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever.
  • Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
  • Psalms 68:10 Your congregation lived therein. You, God, prepared your goodness for the poor.
  • Psalms 68:13 while you sleep among the camp fires, the wings of a dove sheathed with silver, her feathers with shining gold.
  • Psalms 72:2 He will judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.
  • Song of Solomon 4:1 Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is as a flock of goats, that descend from Mount Gilead.
  • Isaiah 60:8 “Who are these who fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?
  • Zephaniah 3:12 But I will leave among you an afflicted and poor people, and they will take refuge in Yahweh’s name.
  • Song of Solomon 6:9 My dove, my perfect one, is unique. She is her mother’s only daughter. She is the favorite one of her who bore her. The daughters saw her, and called her blessed. The queens and the concubines saw her, and they praised her.

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

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Explain this verse (15 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 19. Give not to the beast the soul of…

19. Give not to the beast the soul of thy turtle dove. The Hebrew word חית, chayath, which we translate beast, signifies sometimes the soul or life, and so some explain it in the second clause of this verse, where it again occurs. But it is here unquestionably to be taken either for a wild beast or for a multitude. Understood in either of these ways, this form of expression will contain a very apposite comparison between the life of a weak and timorous bird, and a powerful army of men, or a cruel beast. The Church is compared to a turtle dove for, although the faithful consisted of a considerable number, yet so far were they from matching their enemies, that, on the contrary, they were exposed to them as a prey. It is next added, Forget not the soul or congregation of thy poor ones The Hebrew word חית, chayath, is again employed, and there is an elegance when, on account of its ambiguity, it is used twice in the same verse, but in different senses. I have preferred translating it congregation, rather than soul, because the passage seems to be a prayer that it would please God to watch over and defend his own small flock from the mighty hosts of their enemies.

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 He meaneth the Church of God, which is exposed…
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 74:19 O deliver not the soul of thy…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The soul, i.e. the life. Thou hast delivered thy…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Have respect unto the covenant,.... The Targum adds,
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Soul - The life. Turtle-dove - Of thy church,…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 19. Deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove]…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 74:19. O deliver not the soul — That…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain O deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove -…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 19. Turtledove—The emblem of innocence and fidelity, but here…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 19. The rendering of R.V., O deliver not the…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (19) O deliver.—To guide to the meaning of this…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain O deliver net the soul of thy turtle-dove unto…
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 19. O deliver not the soul of thy…
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 74:19-23 The poet urges God to act.

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