Psalms 144:6

6 Make the lightning flash and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them.

Psalms 144:6 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 144:6

Cast forth lightning, and scatter them
The mountains, the kings and kingdoms of the earth; the enemies of David, and of Christ, and of his people; particularly the Jews, who have been scattered all over the earth by the judgments of God upon them; cast forth like lightning, which is swift, piercing, penetrating, and destructive; shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them;
or, "trouble them" F11; as the Targum, Septuagint, and Arabic versions, nearer to the Hebrew: these also design the sore judgments of God, the arrows of famine, pestilence, and sword; which fly swiftly, pierce deeply, cut sharply, and, like fiery darts, give great pain and trouble. So Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret them of the decrees which come down from heaven, as Aben Ezra does ( Psalms 144:5 ) : by "lightning" Arama understands the flame of fire which comes out with thunder; and by "arrows" the thunderbolt, which he calls a stone hardened in the air like iron.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 (Mmhtw) "ac turba eos", Tigurine version; "et conturba eos", Cocceius, Michaelis.

Psalms 144:6 In-Context

4 They are like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow.
5 Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains so that they smoke.
6 Make the lightning flash and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them.
7 Stretch out your hand from on high; set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hand of aliens,
8 whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.