Psalms 10:8

8 He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent. His eyes watch in secret for his victims;

Psalms 10:8 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.
English Standard Version (ESV)
8 He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
New Living Translation (NLT)
8 They lurk in ambush in the villages, waiting to murder innocent people. They are always searching for helpless victims.
The Message Bible (MSG)
8 They hide behind ordinary people, then pounce on their victims.
American Standard Version (ASV)
8 He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages; In the secret places doth he murder the innocent; His eyes are privily set against the helpless.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
8 He waits in ambush in the villages. From his hiding places he kills innocent people. His eyes are on the lookout for victims.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
8 He waits in ambush near the villages; he kills the innocent in secret places; his eyes are on the lookout for the helpless.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
8 Sinful people hide and wait near the villages. From their hiding places they murder those who aren't guilty of doing anything wrong. They watch in secret for those they want to attack.

Psalms 10:8 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 10:8

He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages
Which were by the wayside, where thieves and robbers harboured, and out of which they came, and robbed passengers as they came by. The word F6 signifies "palaces" or "courts": and so it is rendered by the Chaldee paraphrase and Syriac version; and so the allusion is not to mean thieves and robbers, but to persons of note and figure. Hence the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, render it, "he sitteth in lurking places with the rich"; and may be fitly applied to the pope and his cardinals. Antichrist sits in the temple of God, and by his emissaries gets into the villages, the particular churches and congregations of saints, where they lie in ambush to do mischief, to corrupt their faith, worship, and manners; and like thieves and robbers enter in to steal, kill, and destroy;

in secret places doth he murder the innocent;
the harmless lambs and sheep of Christ; who, though they are not without sin in themselves, yet are innocent with respect to the cause and the things for which they suffer: these are the saints and prophets and martyrs of Jesus, whose blood is shed by antichrist; and the taking away of their lives is reckoned murder with God; and is so styled in the Scriptures, ( Revelation 9:21 ) ; though the antichristian party call it doing God good service, and impute it to zeal for the good of holy church; and yet this they choose to do in secret, by private massacres, or by the inquisition; which having condemned men to death, delivers them over to the secular power to execute the sentence on them: just as the Jews delivered Christ to the Roman governor, to shift off the sin and blame from themselves; murder being what no one cares to be known in, or chargeable with;

his eyes are privily set against the poor:
the word (hklx) , rendered "poor", is used nowhere but in this psalm, in which it is used three times, here, and in ( Psalms 10:1-4 ) ; and in the plural number in ( Psalms 10:10 ) . It is translated "poor" both in the Chaldee paraphrase and Septuagint version, and in those that follow them. In the Arabic language it signifies "black" F7, and may design such who are black by reason of persecution and affliction, who go mourning all the day long on account of sin, their own and others; and because of the distresses and calamities of the church and people of God. These the eyes of the wicked watch and observe, and are set against them to do them all the mischief they can; their eyes are full of envy and indignation at them, though it is all in a private and secret way. The allusion is to thieves and robbers, who hide themselves in some secret place, and from thence look out for them that pass by, and narrowly observe whether they are for their purpose, and when it will be proper to come out and seize upon them.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 (Myrux) (aulav) , Symmachus in Drusius; "atriorum", Munster; so Hammond, Ainsworth, & Michaelis.
F7 "Chalae, valde niger fuit", Golius, col. 646.

Psalms 10:8 In-Context

6 He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.” He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”
7 His mouth is full of lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue.
8 He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent. His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
9 like a lion in cover he lies in wait. He lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Psalms 37:32; Psalms 59:3; Psalms 71:10; Proverbs 1:11; Jeremiah 5:26; Micah 7:2
  • 2. Hosea 6:9; Psalms 94:6
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.