Psalms 37:14

14 The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.

Psalms 37:14 in Other Translations

14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.

14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way is upright;

14 The wicked draw their swords and string their bows to kill the poor and the oppressed, to slaughter those who do right.

14 Bullies brandish their swords, pull back on their bows with a flourish. They're out to beat up on the harmless, or mug that nice man out walking his dog.

14 The wicked have drawn the sword and strung the bow to bring down the afflicted and needy and to slaughter those whose way is upright.

Psalms 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.

Psalms 37:14 In-Context

12 The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them;

13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming.

14 The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.

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

16 Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked;

Cross References

• 1. S Psalms 22:20
• 2. Psalms 11:2
• 3. S Psalms 35:10