New English Translation
Psalms 64:4
4in order to shoot down the innocent in secluded places. They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation.
Psalms 64:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
- New International Version (NIV)They shoot from ambush at the innocent; they shoot suddenly, without fear.
- English Standard Version (ESV)shooting from ambush at the blameless, shooting at him suddenly and without fear.
- New King James Version (NKJV)That they may shoot in secret at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
Context of Psalms 64:4
2Hide me from the plots of evil men, from the crowd of evildoers. 3They sharpen their tongues like a sword; they aim their arrow, a slanderous charge, in order to shoot down the innocent in secluded places. They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation. 5They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed. They plan how to hide snares, and boast, “Who will see them?” 6They devise unjust schemes; they disguise a well-conceived plot. Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered.
Read all of Psalms 64Psalms 64:4 word by word
לִיר֣וֹת בַּמִּסְתָּרִ֣ים תָּ֑ם פִּתְאֹ֥ם יֹ֝רֻ֗הוּ וְלֹ֣א יִירָֽאוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 64:4
- Psalms 10:8He waits in ambush near the villages; in hidden places he kills the innocent. His eyes look for some unfortunate victim.
- Nehemiah 4:11Our adversaries also boasted, “Before they are aware or anticipate anything, we will come in among them and kill them, and we will bring this work to a halt!”
- Habakkuk 3:14You pierce the heads of his warriors with a spear. They storm forward to scatter us; they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition.
- Psalms 59:3For look, they wait to ambush me; powerful men stalk me, but not because I have rebelled or sinned, O Lord.
- John 19:6When the chief priests and their officers saw him, they shouted out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said, “You take him and crucify him! Certainly I find no reason for an accusation against him!”
- 1 Peter 2:22He committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth.
- Psalms 64:7But God will shoot at them; suddenly they will be wounded by an arrow.
- 1 Samuel 18:11and Saul threw the spear, thinking, “I’ll nail David to the wall!” But David escaped from him on two different occasions.
- 1 Samuel 19:10Saul tried to nail David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped from Saul’s presence and the spear drove into the wall. David escaped quickly that night.
- 2 Samuel 15:14So David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come on! Let’s escape! Otherwise no one will be delivered from Absalom! Go immediately, or else he will quickly overtake us and bring disaster on us and kill the city’s residents with the sword.”
Commentaries on Psalms 64:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4That they may shoot in secret - They lurk, that they may take their aim the more surely, and not miss their mark. Suddenly - When there is no fear apprehended, because none is seen.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4That they may shoot in secret - From an unobserved quarter; from a place where they are so concealed that it cannot be known where the arrows come from. There was a purpose to ruin him, and at the same time to conceal themselves, or not to let him know from what source the ruin came. It was not an open and manly fight, where he could see his enemy, but it was a warfare with a concealed foe. At the perfect - At the upright; at one who is perfect so far as…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-6These verses form a prayer for rescue from bold and powerful liars.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3-43-4. Similar figures for slander (Psa 57:4; 59:7). bend--literally, "tread," or, "prepared." The allusion is to the mode of bending a bow by treading on it; here, and in Psa 58:7, transferred to arrows.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 64:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 64
- 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
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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