English Standard Version
Psalms 44:20
20If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
Psalms 44:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
- New International Version (NIV)If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
- New King James Version (NKJV)If we had forgotten the name of our God, Or stretched out our hands to a foreign god,
- New Living Translation (NLT)If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread our hands in prayer to foreign gods,
Context of Psalms 44:20
18Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way; 19yet you have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, 21would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart. 22Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
Read all of Psalms 44Psalms 44:20 word by word
אִם־שָׁ֭כַחְנוּ שֵׁ֣ם אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ וַנִּפְרֹ֥שׂ כַּ֝פֵּ֗ינוּ לְאֵ֣ל זָֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 44:20
- Psalms 44:17All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant.
- Psalms 7:3O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,
- Job 31:5"If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit;
- Psalms 68:31Nobles shall come from Egypt; Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.
- Exodus 9:29Moses said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord's.
- 1 Kings 8:22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven,
- Job 11:13"If you prepare your heart, you will stretch out your hands toward him.
Commentaries on Psalms 44:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20If we have forgotten the name of our God - That name, יהוה Jehovah, by which the true God was particularly distinguished, and which implied the exclusion of all other objects of adoration. Or stretched out our hands - Made supplication; offered prayer or adoration to any strange god - a god that we had not known, nor had been acknowledged by our fathers. It has already been remarked, that from the time of the Babylonish captivity the Jews never relapsed…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20If we have forgotten the name of our God - That is, if we have apostatized from him. Or stretched out our hands to a strange god - Or have been guilty of idolatry. The act of stretching out the hands, or spreading forth the hands, was significant of worship or prayer: 1 Kings 8:22; 2 Chronicles 6:12-13; see the notes at Isaiah 1:15. The idea here is, that this was not the cause or reason of their calamities; that if this had occurred, it would have been a…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-26Verses 17-26 In afflictions, we must not seek relief by any sinful compliance; but should continually meditate on the truth, purity, and knowledge of our heart-searching God. Hearts sins and secret sins are known to God, and must be reckoned for. He knows the secret of the heart, therefore judges of the words and actions. While our troubles do not drive us from our duty to God, we should not suffer them to drive us from our comfort in God. Let us take…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-26This national lament after a defeat in battle continues the tone of the previous two psalms. It reflects on an unspecified moment in Israel's history and calls on God for salvation. The people: recite God's past acts of rescue (Psalm 44:1–3), recognize God's power to save (Psalm 44:4–8), describe their humiliation in exile (Psalm 44:9–16), claim their innocence and lament the injustice of their current situation (Psalm 44:17–22), and cry for vindication…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 20-2120-21. A solemn appeal to God to witness their constancy. stretched out ... hands--gesture of worship (Ex 9:29; Psa 88:9).Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 44:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 44
- 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries