New English Translation
Psalms 53:5
5They are absolutely terrified, even by things that do not normally cause fear. For God annihilates those who attack you. You are able to humiliate them because God has rejected them.
Psalms 53:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.
- New International Version (NIV)But there they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to dread. God scattered the bones of those who attacked you; you put them to shame, for God despised them.
- English Standard Version (ESV)There they are, in great terror, where there is no terror! For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you; you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
- New King James Version (NKJV)There they are in great fear Where no fear was, For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you; You have put them to shame, Because God has despised them.
Context of Psalms 53:5
3Everyone rejects God; they are all morally corrupt. None of them does what is right, not even one! 4All those who behave wickedly do not understand – those who devour my people as if they were eating bread, and do not call out to God. They are absolutely terrified, even by things that do not normally cause fear. For God annihilates those who attack you. You are able to humiliate them because God has rejected them. 6I wish the deliverance of Israel would come from Zion! When God restores the well-being of his people, may Jacob rejoice, may Israel be happy!
Read all of Psalms 53Psalms 53:5 word by word
שָׁ֤ם׀ פָּֽחֲדוּ־פַחַד֮ לֹא־הָ֪יָה֫ פָ֥חַד כִּֽי־אֱלֹהִ֗ים פִּ֭זַּר עַצְמ֣וֹת חֹנָ֑ךְ הֱ֝בִשֹׁ֗תָה כִּֽי־אֱלֹהִ֥ים מְאָסָֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- There were they in greatפַּ֫חַדpachad · dreadH6343
- fearפָּחַדpâchad · to dreadH6342
- was: for Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- hath scatteredפָּזַרpâzar · to scatterH6340
- the bonesעֶ֫צֶם‛etsem · boneH6106
- of him that encampethחָנָהchânâh · to campH2583
- to shameבּוֹשׁbûsh · be ashamedH954
- hath despisedמָאַסmâ'as · to rejectH3988
Cross-references for Psalms 53:5
- Leviticus 26:17I will set my face against you. You will be struck down before your enemies, those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when there is no one pursuing you.
- Deuteronomy 28:65Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair.
- 1 Samuel 14:15Then fear overwhelmed those who were in the camp, those who were in the field, all the army in the garrison, and the raiding bands. They trembled and the ground shook. This fear was caused by God.
- 2 Kings 7:6The Lord had caused the Syrian camp to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a large army. Then they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has paid the kings of the Hittites and Egypt to attack us!”
- Job 15:21Terrifying sounds fill his ears; in a time of peace marauders attack him.
- Proverbs 28:1The wicked person flees when there is no one pursuing, but the righteous person is as confident as a lion.
- Psalms 14:5They are absolutely terrified, for God defends the godly.
- Psalms 141:7As when one plows and breaks up the soil, so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
- Ezekiel 6:5I will place the corpses of the people of Israel in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars.
- Ezekiel 37:1The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and placed me in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones.
- Psalms 35:4May those who seek my life be embarrassed and humiliated! May those who plan to harm me be turned back and ashamed!
- Psalms 40:14May those who are trying to snatch away my life be totally embarrassed and ashamed! May those who want to harm me be turned back and ashamed!
- Psalms 83:16Cover their faces with shame, so they might seek you, O Lord.
- Psalms 2:4The one enthroned in heaven laughs in disgust; the Lord taunts them.
- Psalms 73:20They are like a dream after one wakes up. O Lord, when you awake you will despise them.
- Isaiah 37:22this is what the Lord says about him: “The virgin daughter Zion despises you – she makes fun of you; daughter Jerusalem shakes her head after you.
Commentaries on Psalms 53:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them - The reader will see, on comparing this with the fifth and sixth verses of Psalm 14:1-7, that the words above are mostly added here to what is said there; and appear to be levelled against the Babylonians, who sacked and ruined Jerusalem, and who were now sacked and ruined in their turn. The sixth verse of Psalm 14:1-7, "Ye…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5There were they in great fear - Margin, as in Hebrew, “they feared a fear.” For the general meaning of the verse, see the notes at Psalm 14:5. There is, however, an important change introduced here - the most important in the psalm. The general sentiment of two verses Psalm 14:5-6 in Psalm 14:1-7 is here compressed into one, and yet with such an important change as to show that it was by design, and apparently to adapt it to some new circumstance. The…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5scattered the bones: Israel's enemies would face a shameful defeat and would not have the peaceful rest of a proper burial (compare Psalm 141:7; 2 Kings 9:10; Jeremiah 8:1–2; Ezekiel 6:5).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. Instead of assurances of God's presence with the pious, and a complaint of the wicked, Psa 14:5, 6 portrays the ruin of the latter, whose "bones" even "are scattered" (compare Psa 141:7), and who are put to shame as contemptuously rejected of God.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 53:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 53
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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