Psalm 37:14

14 The wicked have unsheathed their swords, they have strung their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slaughter those whose way is upright.

Psalm 37:14 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 37:14

The wicked have drawn out the sword
That is, out of the scabbard; they drew upon the righteous, in order to sheath it in them; or they sharpened the sword, as Aben Ezra observes some interpret the word; it may be literally rendered, "opened the sword" ^F17, which before lay hid in the scabbard:

and have bent their bow;
having put the arrow in it, in order to shoot. The former expression may design the more open, and this the more secret way of acting against the righteous; and their view in both is

to cast down the poor and needy,
who are so, both in a temporal and spiritual sense; to cause such to fall either into sin, or into some calamity or another:

[and] to slay such as be of upright conversation;
who walk according to the rule of the word of God, and as becomes the Gospel of Christ: nothing less than the blood and life of these men will satisfy the wicked; and it is an aggravation of their wickedness that they should attempt to hurt men of such character who are poor and needy, holy, harmless, inoffensive, and upright; and this points at the reason why they hate them, and seek their ruin, because of the holiness and uprightness of their lives; see ( John 15:19 John 15:20 ) ( 1 Peter 4:3 1 Peter 4:4 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 (wxtp brx) "aperuerunt gladium", Gejerus.

Psalm 37:14 In-Context

12 The wicked plots against the righteous and grinds his teeth at him;

13 but Adonai laughs at the wicked, knowing his day will come.

14 The wicked have unsheathed their swords, they have strung their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slaughter those whose way is upright.

15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.

16 Better the little that the righteous has than the wealth of all the wicked.