Psalms 11:3

Psalms 11:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
• New International Version (NIV)When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
• English Standard Version (ESV)if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?"
• New King James Version (NKJV)If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?

Context of Psalms 11:3

1I have run to the Lord to keep me safe. So do not say this to me: ‘Fly away like a bird to the hills! 2See what the wicked people are doing! They are preparing their bows and arrows. They are hiding in dark places, to shoot their arrows at good, honest people. When the law no longer has authority, righteous people can do nothing!’ 4The Lord is in his holy temple. He rules from his throne in heaven. He carefully watches what people are doing. He knows about each person. 5The Lord watches both good people and wicked people. Good people please him, but he hates wicked people and cruel people.

Psalms 11:3 word by word

כִּ֣י הַ֭שָּׁתוֹת יֵֽהָרֵס֑וּן צַ֝דִּ֗יק מַה־פָּעָֽל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• If the foundationsשָׁתshâthâh · foundationH8356
• be destroyedהָרַסhâras · to overthrowH2040
• what can the righteousצַדִּיקtsaddîyq · righteousH6662
• doפָּעַלpâ‛al · to workH6466

Cross-references for Psalms 11:3

• Psalms 75:3When the earth shakes and the people in it are afraid, I will keep its foundations strong.’ Selah.
• Psalms 82:5The powerful leaders know nothing and they understand nothing. They walk about in a dark place. At the same time the foundation of the earth shakes!
• Isaiah 58:12You will build again the cities which became heaps of stones a long time ago. You will build your houses on the old foundations. People will call you, “Builders who mend the walls and the streets with their houses.”
• 2 Timothy 2:19But the group of true believers remains strong, like the foundation under a building. God has written his message there. It says, ‘The Lord knows who his own people are.’ It also says, ‘Everyone who says that he belongs to the Lord must stop doing bad things.’
• 2 Kings 19:13The kings of Hamath and Arpad have gone. The king of Sepharvaim city has gone. The kings of Hena and Ivvah have also gone.’
• 2 Kings 22:12He gave a command to Hilkiah the priest, Shaphan's son Ahikam, Micaiah's son Acbor, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king's servant.
• 2 Chronicles 32:13You surely know what my ancestors and I have done to all the other nations. The gods of the nations around you could not save their people from my power.
• Nehemiah 6:10One day I went to Shemaiah's house. He was the son of Delaiah, Mehetabel's son. He could not go out of his house. He said to me, ‘Meet me inside the temple of God. We will close the temple's doors. Our enemies are coming to kill you. One night soon, they will come to kill you.’
• Jeremiah 26:11Then the priests and the prophets told the officers and all the people why they accused Jeremiah. They said, ‘This man deserves to die because he has prophesied trouble against this city. You yourselves have heard what he said!’
• Daniel 3:15Next time you hear the sound of the special music, you must obey my rule. You must bend down and you must worship the statue that I have built. If you do not worship the statue, my servants will throw you immediately into the middle of a very hot fire. There is no god who can save you from my power.’
• Daniel 6:10Daniel heard that the king had written this new law. Then he went home. He went upstairs to his room where the windows opened in the direction of Jerusalem. He bent down on his knees and he prayed to God, and he thanked God. He did that three times every day, in the same way that he had always done before.
• John 11:8The disciples said, ‘Teacher, only a short time ago, the Jews there tried to kill you with stones. You should not return there!’
• Acts 4:5The next day, the Jewish rulers and other important Jews met together in Jerusalem. The teachers of God's Law met together with them.

Commentaries on Psalms 11:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3If the foundations be destroyed - If Saul, who is the vicegerent of God, has cast aside his fear, and now regards neither truth nor justice, a righteous man has no security for his life. This is at present thy case; therefore flee! They have utterly destroyed the foundations; (of truth and equity); what can righteousness now effect? Kimchi supposes this refers to the priests who were murdered by Doeg, at the command of Saul. The priests are destroyed, the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3If the foundations be destroyed - These are still to be regarded as the words of the psalmist‘s advisers; or as an argument why he should make his escape. The word “foundations,” here, refers to those things on which society rests, or by which social order is sustained - the great principles of truth and righteousness that uphold society, as the foundations on which an edifice rests uphold the building. The reference is to a destruction of those things in…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3The wicked create a world of darkness (see Psalms 82:5).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Literally, "The foundations (that is, of good order and law) will be destroyed, what has the righteous done (to sustain them)?" All his efforts have failed.Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Arrow
• Naioth
• Rain
• Try
• Foundation
• Papyrus
• Psalms, Book of

Commentaries on Psalms 11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• The Treasury of David
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings