Psalms 48:5

5 they saw her and were astounded; they fled in terror.

Read Chapter Compare

PREVIOUS Psalms 48:4 NEXT Psalms 48:6

Psalms 48:5 in Other Translations

KJV

5 They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away.

ESV

5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in panic; they took to flight.

NLT

5 But when they saw it, they were stunned; they were terrified and ran away.

MSG

5 They took one look and shook their heads, they scattered and ran away.

CSB

5 They looked, and froze with fear; they fled in terror.

Psalms 48:5 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 48:5

They saw [it]
Either the city or the power of God, as Aben Ezra; or, as Jarchi, God himself going forth to fight against the nations. This refers to the power Christ will take to himself, and show forth, by reigning in his church, and protecting it, which will not only be visible to the saints, but to the nations of the world; and to the brightness of Christ's coming in his spiritual reign, with the lustre of which antichrist will be destroyed, ( Revelation 11:17 Revelation 11:18 ) ( 2 Thessalonians 2:8 ) ; and to the glorious state of the church, signified by the rising of the witnesses, and their standing on their feet, and ascending to heaven, which will be seen by their enemies, ( Revelation 11:11 Revelation 11:12 ) ; and to the destruction of Rome, the smoke of whose burning, the kings of the earth, that have committed fornication with her, will see and lament, ( Revelation 18:8-10 ) ;

[and] so their marvelled:
at the glory of the church, the security of it, the power of Christ in it and over it, and at the destruction of mystical Babylon; see ( Isaiah 52:14 Isaiah 52:15 ) ( 13:8 ) ( Jeremiah 51:41 ) ;

they were troubled:
as Herod and all Jerusalem were, upon hearing of the birth of Christ, ( Matthew 2:3 ) ; so these kings will be, upon seeing the coming and power of Christ in the latter day, the invincibleness of his church, and their own immediate and utter ruin: this will be the time or the howling of the shepherds, both civil and ecclesiastical, when all hands will be faint, and every man's heart will melt, ( Zechariah 11:2 ) ( Isaiah 13:6 Isaiah 13:7 ) ;

[and] hasted away:
fled for fear of the great King at the head of his armies, in the defence of his church and people: and as the kings of the earth also at the destruction of Rome will flee and stand afar off, for fear of her torment, ( Revelation 18:10 ) .

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible